All cars for sale are generally safe, according to Euro NCAP, but its grading system allows buyers to determine what is best for them.
Euro NCAP has gone on record to dispel the notion that customers should only buy cars with five-star safety ratings, stating local homologation rules are enough to ensure vehicles are fit for the road.
When asked by Drive to explain its rating system, which is also shared by ANCAP, Euro NCAP secretary general Dr Michiel van Ratingen said every car that comes to market is fundamentally safe because of homologation rules – known as Australian Design Rules (ADRs) locally.
“There are no unsafe cars because otherwise regulations would not be doing their job,” van Ratingen said.
“Regulations set the baseline, what they believe is sellable in the European market. NCAP is not a black and white system, it has five levels, so it has five levels of safety in my view, that’s how I look at it.
“Does that mean that four stars in unsafe? No, that’s safe, not as safe as five stars, but it is safe – so is three by the way.
“That’s kind of how I look at things, otherwise the five stars wouldn’t make sense … NCAP is five levels, and I think we must understand that not everybody is able to buy five stars.
“I believe there are five stars in all segments, so people that are interested to buy as safe as possible, they have the option, they have the information, they can make that decision.”
In recent years, many big-name brands have failed to achieved a maximum five-star safety result, with testing not only looking at physical crash protection, but also the inclusion of advanced safety systems to be eligible for top marks.
However, in Australia, five-star safety is mandated by many fleet operators, meaning top-sellers like the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and Isuzu D-Max are required to achieve top marks or miss out on a big volume of sales from government-related entities, logistics companies, and other operators.
Euro NCAP’s standard for five-star safety up until this year’s new protocols, was at least 80 per cent in adult and child occupant protections tests, and 70 per cent in the vulnerable road-user protection and safety assist assessments.
Models such as the Hyundai Kona, Mitsubishi ASX, and MG3 have all fallen short of five stars, but – in some cases – that has not dampened popularity to buyers.
This year, the rules have changed with four new assessment pillars including crash protection, post-crash safety, crash avoidance, and safe driving.
No cars have been tested on the new criteria by either Euro NCAP or ANCAP.
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
