Australia’s vehicle safety watchdog has discovered that the KGM Musso electric ute – one of the first battery-electric pickups sold locally – lacks two curtain airbags that were specified in its marketing materials, with more than 300 units already delivered to customers. The finding cuts to the credibility of EV safety claims just as commercial fleets begin large-scale electrification of light-truck duty cycles.
How the Musso EV entered Australia with a specification gap
The KGM Musso EV launched in Australia in late 2024 as the electric variant of the Musso diesel ute, imported by the rebranded Korean manufacturer formerly known as SsangYong. Positioned as a direct rival to the Ford Ranger PHEV and the upcoming Toyota HiLux mild-hybrid, the Musso EV carries a 80.6 kWh LFP battery and a 152 kW motor, targeting trades and fleet buyers with a claimed 350 km WLTP range and 3.5-tonne braked towing.
ANCAP’s routine audit process – which cross-checks production vehicles against the safety dossier submitted for rating – identified that the curtain airbags covering the second-row seating position were absent from Australian-delivered vehicles. The safety dossier had listed seven airbags: dual frontal, front side, full-length curtain, and a driver’s knee airbag. Production units carry only five, omitting the rear curtain airbags entirely.
KGM Australia has acknowledged the discrepancy, attributing it to a “specification misalignment” between the Korean factory build sheet and the Australian market requirements. The company states it is working with ANCAP on a resolution, which may involve a voluntary recall for retrofit or a rating reassessment. For now, the Musso EV retains its five-star ANCAP rating issued in 2024, though that rating was predicated on the seven-airbag configuration.
This is not a structural defect or a battery safety issue. It is a compliance failure: the vehicle as sold does not match the vehicle as certified. In the Australian Design Rule framework, ADR 69 (frontal impact) and ADR 72 (side impact) set performance standards, but the specific airbag count is a manufacturer-declared feature that underpins the ANCAP rating. When that declaration proves inaccurate, the rating’s validity is compromised.
Why this matters beyond one model: the compliance shadow over imported commercial EVs
The Musso EV arrives at a inflection point. Australia’s light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment – roughly 200,000 sales annually – is the next frontier for electrification after passenger SUVs. Fleets from AusPost to state government agencies have set 2030 electrification targets that require viable electric utes and vans now, not in 2027. The Musso EV, the LDV eT60, and the forthcoming Ford Ranger PHEV are the only three options with local type approval in 2025.
That scarcity creates pressure to accept vehicles quickly. When the Musso EV launched, its five-star ANCAP rating was a decisive selling point for fleet managers who cannot procure unrated vehicles under workplace safety obligations. If that rating was based on a specification the production line does not deliver, every procurement decision predicated on it carries latent liability.
By comparison, the European market’s General Safety Regulation (GSR) mandates automated cross-checks between type-approval data and production conformity (CoP) testing. Australia relies on a post-market audit model: ANCAP buys vehicles anonymously from dealers and tests them. That works for high-volume models where deviations are caught early. For low-volume imports – the Musso EV sold roughly 320 units in its first eight months – the audit lag can exceed the entire first production run.
If this trend holds, every new EV entrant from a non-UNECE-aligned production line faces a similar window of unverified specification. The LDV eT60, sourced from China’s SAIC, and the upcoming BYD Shark 6 PHEV ute will undergo the same ANCAP audit cycle. Fleet buyers should treat five-star ratings on sub-1,000-unit-per-year models as provisional until ANCAP publishes its physical test confirmation.
Who this affects
- Fleet procurement managers: Must audit current Musso EV orders against workplace safety policies; a five-star rating based on missing safety equipment may not satisfy due-diligence obligations under WHS laws.
- Insurance underwriters: Should reassess premium models for Musso EV fleets; curtain airbag absence in side-impact scenarios increases occupant injury risk, potentially raising claim severity for second-row passengers.
- Policy analysts (DITRDCA): The case exposes a gap between ADR self-certification and post-market verification for low-volume EV imports; may accelerate mandatory CoP testing alignment with UNECE R155/R156 cybersecurity and software update regulations.
- EV dealers and importers: Face reputational contagion; buyers will scrutinize specification sheets against ANCAP’s published test reports for every new Chinese or Korean commercial EV launch.
What to watch next
- ANCAP’s formal position statement – expected within 30 days – on whether the Musso EV retains its five-star rating, is downgraded, or is placed “under review” pending retrofit.
- KGM Australia’s remedy timeline – whether a physical retrofit of rear curtain airbags is engineering-feasible on the Musso’s body structure without recertification of side-impact performance.
- First fleet cancellation or deferral notices – major corporate or government fleets pausing Musso EV orders would signal market rejection of provisional safety ratings.
- DITRDCA consultation on mandatory production conformity audits for all new EV models under 2,500 annual units, likely triggered by this case before year-end.
Bottom line: The Musso EV’s missing airbags are a symptom, not the disease. As Australia’s commercial EV transition shifts from early adopters to mass fleet procurement, the verification infrastructure has not kept pace with the influx of low-volume imports. Until ANCAP’s audit cycle closes the loop faster – or regulators mandate pre-sale conformity proof – every five-star rating on a sub-1,000-unit EV ute should be read as “provisional pending audit.”
Read the full report at The Driven
Original source: The Driven (Australian EV & zero-carbon transport news)
Note: facts and figures attributed above to The Driven (Australian EV & zero-carbon transport news) reflect that outlet's original reporting. Broader context, cross-sector connections, and forward-looking scenarios reflect independent analysis by our editorial team.
About this article: Drafted by Energy Ai with AI-assisted research and writing based on public reporting, then reviewed under our editorial process before publication.
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