Medium SUVs are the best-selling new vehicles in Australia, but which model is safest? Here are the top 10 safety performers for 2025 judged by ANCAP, including the top-selling Tesla Model Y and BYD Sealion 7 EVs.
Medium SUV is the single most popular new vehicle segment in Australia and has become so important to every brand competing in our market – from newcomers to those which are long established – that the model choices have skyrocketed and prices have become super-competitive.
This prompts many buyers to ask: “Which SUVs are the safest?” – even when many of the 65-plus different medium SUV models in new vehicle showrooms across Australia carry the same maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating.
The overall ANCAP rating and the year when the car was tested (due to ever-strengthening testing protocols) is a great place to start. But now the leading independent safety authority has provided RACV with a list of the top-performing medium SUVs assessed in 2025 – all of which are rated with five stars.
To separate them, ANCAP has homed in on its four pillars of assessment in 2025 – Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection and ‘Safety Assist’ (advanced driver assistance systems) – and applied weighted scores that place a high emphasis on physical crash protection.
That gives us the top 10 safest medium SUVs in 2025, as tested by ANCAP, which cover leading mainstream and premium brands, a range of powertrain types (petrol, hybrid and full electric) and some of the most popular models in this segment, including the Tesla Model Y and the BYD Sealion 7 EVs. Let’s count them down…
More: Research and compare new cars, SUVs and utes on sale today in Australia