While other Mercedes models are crash-tested, does the company think that the S-Class is beyond crash tests?
BHPian adasisthefuture recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
The S-Class is often called the best car in the world. But, quite sadly, neither Mercedes voluntarily sends the S-Class to Euro NCAP, IIHS or NHTSA nor these organizations have done so all by themselves. There is hardly any discussion on this topic on this forum. S-Class is not the only luxury car which is not crash tested but since it enjoys the title of the “Best Car”, I have picked it up as a case study.
In today’s world, safety is one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects a buyer considers while taking a decision on which car to buy. In such a scenario, does the S-Class deserve to be called the best car when no one knows how safe it is apart from some edited videos released by the company itself in controlled / studio environment?
While other Mercedes models are crash-tested, does the company think that the S-Class is beyond crash tests?
It is quite well known now that until and unless a car is crash-tested by independent agencies, its build quality and performance during a crash cannot be ascertained. A company’s own internal testing is not sufficient otherwise no car would be required to be crash tested.
An old but interesting article on this subject was published by Consumer Reports.
In this light, I frame the following questions broadly:
- Should one spend a fortune on a vehicle which one is not sure how safe is it in today’s world?
- Is it so that buyers are ready to trade off safety for a so-called status symbol and pride?
- Hasn’t the time come for the buyers to let these luxury car makers know that however good their car may be technically, the safety aspect cannot be brushed aside?
Learned members of this forum are requested to share their views.
Thank you.
Here’s what GTO had to say about the matter:
Quite an eye-opener, really! I had always assumed that the S-Class has a 5-star crash test rating by default. Guess that’s because a lot of the mainstream Mercedes have gotten 5-stars in the NCAP.
Very surprising.
Here’s what BHPian Shreyans_Jain had to say about the matter:
Isn’t NHTSA crash testing mandatory in the US? My understanding was that the insurance premiums are directly linked to the crash test results.
Here’s what BHPian ron178 had to say about the matter:
I think it has mostly to do with the cost involved. Euro NCAP testing is not cheap. As of 2023, for a car with a centre airbag, at least 5 cars are required for the physical crash tests alone (front offset, front full-width, side MDB w/driver, side MDB w/driver+passenger, oblique pole), and that’s excluding the pedestrian impacts. And in-house tests to be presented as evidence (LHD-vs-RHD, different powertrains, far-side impact, knee mapping, etc.)
Usually, manufacturers sponsor Euro NCAP testing when they gain a competitive advantage by doing so, which is common in the mass market. Publicity, reduced insurance premiums for buyers, induction into more fleets etc. [Additionally, each Euro NCAP sponsor selects at least one car every year, usually based on sales reference (publicly available here).]
OEMs rarely sponsor testing for expensive cars like the S-Class, and understandably so, because any additional volume generated from having a rating simply does not justify the cost involved in testing.
Off the top of my head, only a few really high-end cars have undergone Euro NCAP testing: limited mostly to VW Group and a few odd ones here and there.
Here’s what BHPian ashivas89 had to say about the matter:
Mercedes, Audi and BMW spend hundreds of millions each on engineering passive safety alone on their flagship cars. Their passive safety/crash test load cases far outnumber the Euro NCAP tests. So they ENSURE that their cars are safe and they are certainly not cutting corners. You certainly cannot level that at companies that pioneered several active and passive safety constructs.
Mercedes Audi and BMW don’t have Euro NCAP ratings for their flagships AFAIK. Bentley and Rolls Royce are not even listed on their website as brands. These companies just do not see any value in spending more money on getting their low-volume luxury products rated by private external rating agencies because it does not necessarily translate to a competitive edge in terms of sales as ron178 has already mentioned. The auto industry is a slim margin business they use their money very judiciously.
Euro NCAP or equivalent agencies are PRIVATE RATING AGENCIES that only help buyers decide. A lack of a test does not automatically make a car unsafe. Especially in the luxury segment.
Here’s what BHPian androdev had to say about the matter:
It’s like Michelin Pilot Sport trying to get an ISI mark to market their tires.
Companies like Mercedes will have a very good infrastructure and procedures for safety-related testing including crash tests. They would have already spent tons of money conducting these tests internally so they don’t feel the need for any 3rd party testing to figure things out. They still send their cars for 3rd party rating once in a while just to confirm their internal mechanisms are working properly (like an audit) and just to reassure the market that the brand is trustworthy. They don’t find the need to do this for each car model, especially for their flagship models where they didn’t cut corners.
As others have said, it really boils down to cost vs marketing benefit as they already have a pretty good idea about the crashworthiness of their cars based on internal testing. In fact, I won’t be surprised if their sophisticated software simulations are very close to real-world crash testing. Regulators like NHTSA don’t require third-party ratings as long as the manufacturer provides them with internal test data.
You can find many “internal” crash test YouTube videos of Mercedes, here is an example – Mercedes SLS AMG Crash Test
Keyword: Why Mercedes S-Class has not been crash-tested by the NCAP yet?