Latest EURO NCAP Crash Test Results
The Renault Laguna remains the only car to achieve a 5-star result in Europe’s leading independent crash tests confirmed European New Car Assessment programme (EURO NCAP) today. Crashworthiness results for eight family cars, two small family cars, Honda’s new Civic Stream and the Rover 25 were published at a press conference earlier today in Barcelona, Spain, co-hosted by Euro NCAP and the Catalonian motoring organisation the RACC.
The front impact test is conducted at 64 km/h into an offset deformable barrier, the side impact test 50 km/h, the pole test at 25km/h and the pedestrian tests at 40km/h.
“In 1997, when Euro NCAP first tested family cars, only one of the 13 models achieved four star status. Today, in contrast, of the 19 family cars tested, one has achieved 5 stars and 12 have achieved 4 stars. This is clear evidence that Euro NCAP’s goal of creating a market for safety is being achieved,” said Max Mosley, Euro NCAP Chairman and President of the FIA.
“Despite the significant overall safety improvements, some cars have performed poorly in our latest tests,” he noted. “The Hyundai Elantra and the Alfa Romeo 147 both did particularly badly in the frontal occupant test, with the 147 only achieving a 20% score, one of the worst recorded in Euro NCAP.”
“Apart from the achievements of Honda, pedestrian protection performance continues to be poor; the BMW 3 Series only achieved a single star rating in the pedestrian test which is very disappointing for a recent vehicle design,” he went on.
Mosley expressed confidence that manufacturers who take the safety of their customers seriously ‘will rise to Euro NCAP’s 5-star challenge in the future’.
Senior executives of other member organisations of Euro NCAP also offered comments. Said Guido Adriaenssens, ICRT Chief Executive: “Although this series of tests confirm the contribution of Euro NCAP to the improvement of secondary safety of current production cars in general, it is astonishing to see the poor frontal impact results for the 2001 Car of the Year [the Peugeot 307], and some other recently introduced models.”
“These results emphasise the need for independent consumer information in this area. A 4-star Euro NCAP rating should be the minimum score for new cars these days; 3 stars simply are not good enough,” emphasised Adriaenssens.
“This phase again illustrates that child restraints are not given proper consideration in car design and development. The protection of the most precious and vulnerable occupants has not kept pace with the great strides that have been made to enhance protection for adults. ICRT therefore welcomes the Euro NCAP future initiative to introduce credit, in terms of an increased vehicle score, for those car manufacturers that demonstrate that they have made good provision for child protection,” he said.
Chris Patience, Head of Technical Policy at Britain’s Automobile Association had this to say: “The overall improvement in scores that we’re seeing in the Euro NCAP programme should not lead to complacency either from consumers or manufacturers. Two very recent models have not performed as well in the frontal impact test as they should have done, which shows that there are still manufacturers who need to work harder on occupant protection. They all need to do much better when it comes to pedestrian safety – some makers have even gone backwards in this area.”
Future phases will tackle off-roaders and two-seater sportscars as well as catching up on important new cars in the existing groups.
Results of the ninth phase of the Euro NCAP:
Large Family Cars
Renault Laguna II – 5 stars tested Mar 2001
Audi A4 – 4 stars, tested Feb 2001
BMW 3 Series – 4 stars, tested Nov 2001
Citroen C5 – 4 stars, tested Nov 2001
Ford Mondeo – 4 stars, tested Nov 2001
Honda Accord – 4 stars, tested 2000
Mercedes C Class – 4 stars, tested Jun 2001
Rover 75 – 4 stars, tested, Jun 2001
Saab 9-3 – 4 stars, tested 2000
Skoda Octavia – 4 stars, tested Nov 2001
Volkswagen Passat – 4 stars, tested Jun 2001
Volvo S40 – 4 stars, tested 1997
Volvo S60 – 4 stars, tested Nov 2001
Hyundai Elantra – 3 stars, tested Nov 2001
Mitsubishi Carisma – 3 stars,tested Jun 2001
Nissan Primera – 3 stars, tested 1997
Opel Vectra – 3 stars, tested Nov 2001
Peugeot 406 – 3 stars tested Nov 2001
Toyota Avensis – 3 stars, tested 1997
Small MPVs
Honda Stream – 4 stars
Small Family Cars
Peugeot 307 – 4 stars
Alfa 147 – 3 stars
Superminis
Rover 25, 3 stars
