{"id":33540,"date":"2026-05-02T10:16:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=33540"},"modified":"2026-05-02T10:16:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T08:16:36","slug":"sa-flags-safety-concerns-over-popular-entry-level-cars","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/sa-flags-safety-concerns-over-popular-entry-level-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"SA flags safety concerns over popular entry-level cars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa (SA) has raised concerns about the safety of some of the country\u2019s most popular entry-level vehicles, following the latest crash test results from the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCPA).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Several models scored just two out of five for adult occupant protection, a rating the AA says should be a red flag for buyers.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Among the vehicles highlighted are the Hyundai Grand i10, the entry-level version of the Toyota Corolla Cross, and the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>AA Chief Executive Officer Bobby Ramagwede says one of the biggest concerns is that many consumers are unaware of these safety ratings, even for cars that sell in high volumes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur general guidance is that if a vehicle scores anything less than three out of five on the Global NCAP programme, it should not be bought,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The AA argues that manufacturers often sell fewer safe versions of vehicles in SA due to outdated regulations, leaving consumers exposed.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Buyers are being urged to check safety ratings before making a purchase and to prioritise key features such as airbags and electronic stability control.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33542,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-33540","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"SA has raised concerns about the safety of some of the country\u2019s most popular entry-level vehicles","published_date":"2026-05-02 09:58:16","news_description":"SA has raised concerns about the safety of some of the country\u2019s most popular entry-level vehicles","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33541,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33540\/revisions\/33541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}