Euro NCAP has published its fifth round of safety ratings, with many Asian models impressing.
Two newcomers from China’s Great Wall Motor Company – the ORA Funky Cat and the WEY Coffee 01, both achieved top marks.
The new electric Genesis GV60 continued the five-star success of the GV70 and GV80 models tested last year, albeit with some room for improvement in its protection of vulnerable road users.
The new Kia Niro got four stars with standard equipment, but five when fitted with the optional safety pack. Car-buyers have to pay extra for the optional ‘DriveWise’ safety pack, which adds a radar to the sensor-set, if they want top-level safety.
Hyundai’s third generation i20 shares the 2021 four star rating of the closely-related BAYON. And new electric variants of existing Stellantis models – the Citroen e-Berlingo, Opel/Vauxhall Combo e-Life and the Peugeot e-Rifter – are added to the 2018 results of the combustion-engined models.
Euro NCAP’s Secretary General, Michiel van Ratingen, said: “We’ve seen good results from some Chinese manufacturers in the past, but also some very poor ones. This year, Euro NCAP will test more Chinese cars than it has ever done and Great Wall really sets the standard for others to follow.”
Elsewhere, the highly anticipated Tesla Model Y was also tested, which Euro NCAP says did not disappoint and shoots to the top of recently published five-star cars.
The Model Y, built in Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory, scores an impressive 97 per cent in Adult Occupant Protection and near-perfect 98 per cent in Safety Assist, with full points for its lane support and new cabin camera based driver monitoring system.
In Euro NCAP track tests, the Model Y camera-only Vision system performs well in preventing collisions with other cars, cyclists and pedestrians.
