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VOLVO gave us seat belts and baby seats before any other car makers. Now the Chinese-owned Swedish car maker’s second-generation XC60 gives us the highest crash test rating so far for 2017.
EuroNCAP, the European cousin to independent crash test authority the Australasian New Car Assessment Program [ANCAP], has overnight awarded the XC60 with the same top five-star score as the larger XC90, built on the same platform, was given in 2015 when it was tested.
Importantly, though, Volvo told EuroNCAP its crash test would offer “a similar level of protection … to occupants of different sizes and to those sat in different positions”.
As well, its autonomous emergency braking – a feature fitted to many modern cars – scored maximum points in low-speed tests “typical of city driving”, with collisions avoided at all test speeds.
Also joining the five-star club are the Citroen C3 Aircross, a SUV-styled version of the C3 hatchback that has recently gone on sale in Australia, the upcoming Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross compact SUV that will slot in under the strong-selling Mitsubishi ASX, and the Skoda Karoq seven-seat SUV that’s also recently arrived in Australia.
Two cars also due to arrive in Australia in the next year – the Volkswagen Polo small hatch and the T Roc compact SUV – also scored a top five-star result.
Australia is slowly aligning the way it measures the crashworthiness of cars with the EuroNCAP system. A major change being introduced next year is a score given to all the cars in the model line-up based on the crashworthiness of the best-selling model. In the past, ANCAP has declined to give base model cars a crash rating if they missed out on safety gear included on more popular models.
