The safest seven-seat SUV in Australia for 2023 is…

The safest three-row SUV in Australia in 2023 is the Hyundai Palisade, according to Drive's family SUV comparison.

Hyundai's extra-large SUV claimed first place in the safety category thanks to its advanced autonomous emergency braking system, recent five-star score from ANCAP and numerous active safety features. 

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As part of Drive's Family SUV Megatest, judges scored our 12 top-selling models across 20 key safety criteria, including the presence of bare-minimum essentials like electronic stability control (ESC) and anti-lock braking system (ABS).

Cars were also awarded points for the inclusion of active extras like active cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, 360-degree cameras or speed-limit recognition technology.

While all the models on our test had five-star safety ratings, the models with ANCAP safety ratings that pre-dated 2020 – when new, more stringent testing criteria were introduced – were penalised in the scoring system.

In flagship Highlander guise, the Hyundai Palisade boasted extras like a digital rear-view mirror (which provides a camera feed direct to the rear-vision mirror), six parking sensors and a safe-exit alert. 

"The Hyundai Palisade was deemed the safest car on test for ticking all the boxes and then creating some new ones," judges said.

"For starters, it has a minty fresh five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2022, and an autonomous emergency braking system that can detect pedestrians and cyclists and is capable of operating in intersections.

"It also has safety features that not only monitor your surroundings but provide intervention if a potential obstacle is detected."

The Kia Sorento claimed second place in the safety category – a mere 1.5 points behind the Palisade – thank to the inclusion of a blind-spot view monitor and 360-degree camera on the top-spec GT-Line variant.

The Sorento lost points for the fact its curtain airbags don’t provide coverage to the third row. 

In third place was the Nissan Pathfinder, one of the newer models on our megatest, with curtain airbag coverage all the way to the third row and a five-star ANCAP safety rating issued in 2022.

It featured modern conveniences like rear automatic braking, traffic-sign recognition and autonomous emergency braking with junction assist. 

The Pathfinder's smaller sibling, the Nissan X-Trail medium SUV, ranked in fourth place for safety, sharing much of the same safety equipment as the Pathfinder but lacking curtain airbag coverage for the third row. 

The Toyota Kluger rounded out the top five performers in the safety category, losing points due to a lack of tyre pressure monitoring system and surround-view monitor. However, it included most other safety essentials, like curtain airbags to the third row, traffic-sign recognition and a driver monitoring system.

The Mitsubishi Outlander and the Hyundai Santa Fe jointly claimed sixth place in the safety category. The Outlander offered a solid amount of standard safety equipment, but some features (like tyre pressure monitoring and cruise control with stop-and-go functionality) were only available on higher specification grades. 

Meanwhile, the Hyundai Santa Fe won points for providing active lane-keeping, an active rear cross-traffic alert and advanced front and rear autonomous emergency braking, but lacked a surround-view camera, speed-limit awareness and full curtain airbag coverage for the third row. 

The Mazda CX-8 large SUV ranked in eighth place, with a basic reverse camera, blind-spot monitoring, a rear cross-traffic alert with active intervention and traffic-sign recognition.

The Mazda CX-9 sat two points behind the CX-8 for having a more dated ANCAP safety rating, but otherwise the two shared much of the same equipment.

Sharing ninth place with the Mazda CX-9 was the Honda CR-V, which offered basic versions of most safety systems, but missed out on speed-limit awareness and blind-spot monitoring (it did, however, offer LaneWatch, which displays a camera view of the side of your car when indicating).

The Skoda Kodiaq ranked eleventh for missing out on blind-spot monitoring and a rear cross-traffic alert as standard – but both will be added in a model-year update that will have taken effect by the time of publishing. 

Finally, the Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace came in last in the safety category for missing out on blind-spot monitoring and a rear cross-traffic alert due to semiconductor shortages, as well as foregoing speed-limit awareness and having an expired ANCAP safety rating. 

For the full breakdown of safety scores, read Drive's seven-seat SUV megatest summary.

1. Hyundai Palisade – 22.5 points

2. Kia Sorento – 21 points

3. Nissan Pathfinder – 20.5 points

4. Nissan X-Trail – 19 points

5. Toyota Kluger – 17.5 points

=6. Mitsubishi Outlander – 17 points

=6. Hyundai Santa Fe – 17 points

8. Mazda CX-8 – 15 points

=9. Honda CR-V – 13 points

=9. Mazda CX-9 – 13 points

11. Skoda Kodiaq – 12 points

12. Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace – 11.5 points