A selection of cars gain the five stars, with one each for 3 and 4 in the latest Euro NCAP tests.

• Retest of Ford Mustang shows safety improvement, secures Three Star Euro NCAP rating 
  
• “This underlines the power of the Euro NCAP consumer testing programme,” says Thatcham Research 
  
• SEAT Ibiza the standout of other vehicles tested, raises the bar in Supermini safety 
  
• A further four vehicles tested – Five Star ratings for the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, VW Arteon and Hyundai i30, Four Stars for the Honda Civic

Following an unfavourable safety rating earlier this year, Ford has resubmitted its flagship Mustang sports car for testing, on this occasion earning a Three Star Euro NCAP rating. This follows the addition of standard-fit Pedestrian Detection, Forward Collision Warning, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) and a Lane Keeping Aid, while rapidly addressing a ‘bottoming-out[1]’ issue with the driver’s airbag.

“In just a few months, Ford has responded to improve on the initial low safety rating given to the Mustang,” comments Matthew Avery, director of research at Thatcham Research. “Our advice to buyers is to always opt for a Euro NCAP Five Star car, so a Three Star Euro NCAP rating is never a cause for celebration. 

However, Ford’s rapid addition of a suite of standard-fit safety tech and its prompt updates to improve the performance of the airbags and restraints is to be applauded and underlines the power of the Euro NCAP consumer testing programme as a force for positive action. We will continue to apply pressure on carmakers to ensure UK drivers have the safest possible cars.”

Take a SEAT

July’s standout vehicle was the SEAT Ibiza, which at £13,000 is a relatively affordable and well-reviewed Supermini. Avery comments, “SEAT has set a new benchmark in safety for the Supermini price point category. The Ibiza not only comes with standard-fit AEB but also Pedestrian AEB – which is proven to reduce vulnerable road user deaths.

“The new VW Polo will be built on the same platform as the Ibiza which bodes well and with major new Supermini launches expected later in 2017, the safety game is now on for carmakers in this category.”

Four other vehicles were tested by Euro NCAP this month, with all but one achieving a Five Star rating. The Alfa Romeo Stelvio, VW Arteon and Hyundai i30 all received the maximum Five Stars. The Honda Civic was awarded a Four Star Euro NCAP rating, despite having standard-fit AEB. This was in part due to the head of the rear passenger dummy representing a 10 year old recording a hard impact through the curtain airbag

The latest round of Euro NCAP results cover four cars which gain four or five stars.

Today, Euro NCAP releases the results of four new cars.  The MINI Countryman and Škoda Kodiaq are both awarded a five-star rating.  

Nissan’s new Micra gets four stars with standard equipment and five stars with the optional safety pack (1).  The Suzuki Swift is rated as three stars as standard and four stars with the optional safety equipment.

All cars reach the five star levels for adult occupant protection, child protection and pedestrian protection.  The differences come in the fitment of advanced driver assistance systems.  

The Škoda Kodiaq is equipped as standard with an AEB system that detects pedestrians as well as other cars.  The Kodiaq’s five-star rating continues Škoda’s recent good form: all recently tested Škodas have been rated as five stars. 

The MINI has AEB car-to-car as standard and pedestrian detection as an option.  Nissan put AEB pedestrian and lane assistance in the option pack (‘Euro NCAP 5* Pack’) of the Micra, nudging the four-star rating with standard equipment into five-star territory with the option pack fitted.  

Only the Suzuki Swift does not offer AEB pedestrian, with AEB car-to-car in its ‘Radar Brake Support’ option pack.

Euro NCAP Secretary General, Michiel van Ratingen, said, “Euro NCAP started rewarding AEB pedestrian systems last year and we have seen a rapid uptake of the technology.   

We hope to see as fast an adoption of AEB systems that detect cyclists when tests of those systems form part of the rating next year.  

For twenty years, Euro NCAP has been pushing manufacturers to fit new and better safety technologies: originally, such things as airbags and pre-tensioners and, nowadays, advanced driver assistance systems that will form the building blocks for the automated vehicles of tomorrow.”

Euro NCAP tests six new cars with ratings varying from 3 stars to the full 5 star rating.

Euro NCAP releases the results of six new cars. The Audi Q5, Land Rover Discovery and Toyota C-HR all get a top five-star safety rating; Citroën’s C3 gets four stars; and FIAT’s ageing 500 and Ford’s brand new Ka+ notched up three out of five stars apiece.    

The new Audi Q5 and Toyota C-HR showed good all-round performance in all areas of assessment to earn their five-star ratings. The Land Rover Discovery scored highly enough to merit a five-star rating, but not without problems. 

In the frontal offset test, the driver airbag bottomed out owing to insufficient pressure and, in the side barrier test, the driver’s door became unlatched.

Grateful thanks to Euro NCAP for the use of the pictures.

Euro NCAP’s Secretary General, Michiel van Ratingen, said, “Jaguar Land Rover has an ambitious programme of new model releases in the coming years. We hope that this challenging schedule and tight development times do not compromise the safety of the vehicles offered, and we hope that they will take our findings onboard”.

Still going strong more than 10 years after it first hit markets, FIAT’s reincarnation of the iconic 500 continues to be a popular choice in the supermini segment. Euro NCAP tested the recent facelift against the latest safety rules and benchmarked its performance with two newcomers in the same segment, the all-new Citroën C3 and the low-cost Ford Ka+. Superminis are extremely popular in the European new car market and the segment is very price-sensitive. To deliver attractive yet affordable cars, manufacturers are tempted to cut down on safety equipment, emphasising great looks and style instead. Case in point are the FIAT 500 and the Ford Ka+ that lack rear seatbelt pretensioners and load-limiters, by now standard on most cars on the market.

In the full-width frontal crash test, introduced in 2015, the 500 showed poor protection of both the driver and the rear seat passenger. In the Ka+, chest protection was rated as poor. Both cars also lack autonomous braking technology, already offered on half of new models today. The Citroën C3 on the other hand performed much more robustly: it narrowly missed a top five-star rating, falling only just short of the threshold in pedestrian protection.

Euro NCAP’s Secretary General, Michiel van Ratingen, said, “The 500 is an old car by now and the small improvements that FIAT have made on the facelift don’t hide that. Consumers may be better off waiting for the all-new 500 and hope that FIAT will take the opportunity to offer a vehicle that competes on safety with its competitors, as the original did 10 years ago. Unfortunately, high hopes for the segment are smashed by Ford by releasing a brand new Ka+ with mediocre safety performance. The car lacks the more sophisticated restraint systems offered by most of its rivals, let alone more sophisticated technology like autonomous braking. The new C3 shows that a respectful rating is achievable also for superminis.”               

Detailed results and crash test pictures of these cars are published on our website. All videos are available on our YouTube channel. For media requests, please contact Marie Brasseur at media@euroncap.com. More safety ratings will be released on April 12, 2017

Latest round of Euro-Ncap results, Nissan, Citroen and Mercedes.

Euro NCAP announced today the safety ratings for the following three vehicles:

The new Small Family Citroën C4 Cactus received four stars, a creditable result against Euro NCAP tougher requirements. The Small Off-Road 4X4 Nissan X-Trail and the Business and Family Van Mercedes-Benz V-Class both achieved Euro NCAP's maximum five star overall rating.

The X-Trail is rewarded for crash avoidance systems such as Autonomous Emergency Braking and Lane Departure Warning, included in the rating as from 2014. The Euro NCAP Advanced reward given to Mercedes-Benz for the Collision Prevention Assist also applies to the V-Class, as Autonomous Braking Systems are not yet included in the assessment of Business and Family Vans.

Detailed results and pictures of the tested vehicles are published on our website. Videos of the tests are also available on our YouTube channel and Media Center. For media requests, please contact Marie Brasseur, Euro NCAP Communications Manager.

Latest Euro NCAP results, good for some, really bad for others.

The latest Euro NCAP results show that not all vehicles are meeting with the tougher safety requirements.  The following car models have recently undergone Euro NCAP crash tests:

The Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class reached Euro NCAP’s maximum award of five stars. The Renault Twingoreceived four stars and Nissan's new electric e-NV200 Evalia achieved three stars.

The Citroën Berlingo obtained three stars and has exactly the same platform, interior fittings and levels of safety equipment as the new Peugeot Partner. The three star rating therefore applies to both vehicles.

PSA Peugeot Citroën have demonstrated that the Peugeot 108 and the Citroën C1 are identical to the Toyota Aygo in every way likely to influence safety. Therefore, these cars share the Aygo’s four star safety rating.

The detailed results of the tested vehicles are published on the Euro NCAP website. The crash test footages, photos and datasheets are available on our Media Center. All videos are also available on ourYouTube channel. For media requests, please contact Marie Brasseur, Euro NCAP Communications Manager.

Latest NCAP results Mercedes C-Class and Hyundai i10 (Video's included)

Euro NCAP is releasing the latest set of crash test results which includes the Large Family Mercedes Benz C-Class and the Supermini Hyundai i10. While the Hyundai i10 gets four stars, the latest C-Class reaches the overall star rating and is fitted with Autonomous Emergency Braking.

Hyundai i10	Mercedes Benz C-Class