Safety is one of the key criteria for most people when buying a car. Whatever your budget or intended usage, it’s reassuring to know that you will be in a vehicle that can help prevent a crash or will protect you should the worst happen and you’re involved in one. And that’s why Euro NCAP’s crash test ratings have become such a significant part of the purchasing landscape over the past 24 years. As the tests have adapted and evolved, the importance of safety to manufacturers has been emphasised by the glut of five-star ratings. As a case in point, four of the six cars tested so far this year, and nine of the 11 in 2020, achieved the maximum five stars. Amid this backdrop there’s a temptation to take safety for granted, but every so often the Euro NCAP tests throw up a result that grabs the headlines for the wrong reasons. Here we look at five examples where a low Euro NCAP crash test rating has raised eyebrows.
Dacia Sandero (2021)
It had all been going so well for the Renault-owned Romanian budget brand’s hatchback. Widely praised for offering great value for money, picking up some prestigious awards in the process, it was a major surprise when the Sandero Stepway emerged from the latest Euro NCAP tests with a two-star rating. The chief area of complaint concerned the equipment on offer; the automatic emergency braking system does not prevent collisions with other vulnerable road users (cyclists and pedestrians), while there is no active lane-keeping assistance. And although crash protection was generally rated as adequate, in the frontal offset test Euro NCAP stated that “structures in the dashboard presented a risk of injury” and protection for the knees and femurs was “downgraded to marginal”. While Dacia points out that the Sandero protects occupants to a “high standard”, Euro NCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen said: “Safety has moved on and the biggest strides are now being made by using high-tech to prevent accidents from happening. Clearly Dacia have found their market and they’re sticking to it, but a two-star rating shows little ambition, even for a low-cost product.”
Fiat Panda (2018)
“Shocking” was the damning assessment from Thatcham Research, which tests cars in conjunction with Euro NCAP, when the Panda recorded a scarcely believable zero stars in 2018. The test amply demonstrated how quickly safety standards evolve, as the long-running Panda had been awarded four stars when first assessed in 2011. Of particular concern was its ability to protect child occupants – the Fiat scored a dismal 16 per cent in this area. Euro NCAP stated that its side barrier test indicated 10-year-olds faced a “high injury risk”, while in the frontal offset test there was “poor protection” of their head and neck. The Panda also afforded “weak protection” for the driver’s chest in the latter assessment. The Panda remains in showrooms and it’s important to note that it complies with all safety regulations in every market that it’s sold.
Jeep Wrangler (2018)
In addition to the Panda’s disappointing result, there was further woe for then owner FCA in 2018 when a car from another of its brands, Jeep, also turned in a poor crash test result. In this case it was the Wrangler, famed for its ability to negotiate the toughest of terrain, that received a one-star rating. Structural issues were highlighted in the frontal offset test, with Euro NCAP noting “the connection between the A-pillar and trans-facia beam was damaged in a way that indicated the structure would be unable to withstand higher loads”. Protection afforded to the driver in the chest area was said to be “weak”. But it was the lack of specific safety equipment that really cost the Wrangler, with the omission of any autonomous emergency braking system and lane assistance seeing it marked down.
Fiat Punto (2017)
Another Fiat made history for all the wrong reasons four years ago when it became the first car in Euro NCAP history ever to be handed a rating of zero stars. The Punto was criticized for its crash test performance and lack of key features such as autonomous emergency braking, but again, arguably the most pertinent lesson it delivered is how quickly safety standards can change. When it was initially tested when it first went on sale in 2005 – admittedly under different test criteria – it was awarded five stars by Euro NCAP. Twelve years later, as the organisation pointed out, the Punto was “perhaps the strongest example of a manufacturer continuing to sell a product that is well past its best before date at the expense of the unsuspecting car buyer.” There’s no positive way to spin a zero-star crash test result, and it was no surprise when Fiat pulled the Punto from sale, after 13 years in showrooms, in 2018.
Rover 100 (1997)
Arguably Euro NCAP’s most famous crash test – and the one that certainly put it on the radar of buyers and media alike – was that of the Rover 100 supermini in 1997. The 100, which had been around for nearly 17 years in the form of the Metro, was one of the first cars ever tested by the organisation and perhaps unsurprisingly, given its age, delivered a poor result, recording only one star for adult occupant protection. As the body had only just been established – and the public were not familiar with the idea of crash test results – its assessment of the 100 made for alarming reading: “The Rover suffered excessive deformation of the passenger compartment…. and the structure became unstable.” Accordingly, it was no surprise when the 100 was subsequently removed from sale. An indicator of how significant this crash test was in establishing Euro NCAP and the importance of safety in the mind of car buyers came in 2017, when the organisation chose to crash test another Rover 100 alongside the contemporary Jazz. As our picture illustrates, the 100 crumpled appallingly where the Jazz proved significantly more robust – a reminder of how much safer cars are today, and a tribute to the work of Euro NCAP.
Keyword: Five Euro NCAP crash test shocks