Seven new cars have achieved five-star ratings in the latest Euro NCAP testing.
The Mercedes-Benz EQC and CLA, the Skoda Kamiq, the SsangYong Korando, the BMW Z4 and the new Audi A1 all achieved top marks. The Ford Focus, already tested in 2018, has been reassessed following minor updates to car.
The C-segment SUV Korando is the first five-star car from Korea’s SsangYong. Well-equipped, and with AEB as standard, the Korando’s rating brings it into line with its competitors.
The Skoda Kamiq is a high-riding Scala and shares a five-star rating and similar results to the car tested earlier this year.
Mercedes-Benz’s first all-electric car, the EQC, is the first of firm’s EQ range, and its rating augers well with a five-star rating and good all-round performance. The EQC is part of a growing trend towards battery electric vehicles and joins Jaguar’s I-Pace and Audi’s e-tron amongst the cars that Euro NCAP has tested, and Tesla’s Model X, which Euro NCAP says will be assessed later this year.
Good results were achieved by other newcomers as well. The latest Mercedes-Benz CLA achieved an outstanding outcome, scoring more than 90 per cent in three of the four area of safety assessed by Euro NCAP. BMW’s two-seater roadster, the new Z4, scored well all round, but its protection of vulnerable road users was especially impressive, thanks to an active bonnet that lifts when a pedestrian has been hit. Audi’s A1 also performed well in safety tests. A five-star car in 2010, the second-generation small hatchback repeats its top rating against Euro NCAP’s newest test requirements, thanks in part to ‘Audi Pre Sense Front’, its standard-fit AEB system.
Finally, the Ford Focus achieved five stars in 2018, but its marginal front-seat whiplash protection meant it could not capitalise on good results for its AEB system. Ford has improved the design of the seats and head restraints, and the car now demonstrates good whiplash protection in rear-end collisions and is rewarded for its excellent AEB city performance. The outcome is an improved overall score that reaffirms the Focus is an all-round family car with great safety credentials.
