Ford, Hyundai and Toyota impress in latest Euro NCAP tests

Euro NCAP has released safety ratings for five new cars. The Ford Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Tucson and the Toyota Yaris Cross all achieved a top rating of five stars, while the new Hyundai Bayon was awarded four stars.

Ford’s new all-electric crossover SUV, the Mustang Mach-E, bears little resemblance to the 5-litre muscle car with which it shares its name. While its sports-car stablemate struggled to gain three stars in 2017, the Mustang Mach-E firmly secured a top five-star rating against the latest test requirements.

The car comes equipped with a centre airbag, deployable bonnet for vulnerable road user protection and a host of advanced driver assistance features, offering high levels of driver support and crash prevention all around.

Having simultaneously achieved a five-star rating by the environmental test programme Green NCAP, Euro NCAP said that Ford has demonstrated that fighting climate change will not stand in its way of improving road safety.

Hyundai also impressed Euro NCAP with three new models in this publication, the all-electric Ioniq 5 and Tucson, gained five star ratings and the Hyundai Bayon achieved four stars.

Although the Tucson only just cleared the hurdle in Safety Assist to get into five-star territory, both the Ioniq 5 and Tucson displayed good all-round safety, according to the tester.

The crossover SUV Bayon, fighting its way into an already overcrowded and highly competitive segment, lacks the centre airbag that is standard in Ioniq 5 and Tucson, Euro NCAP said. Nevertheless, the Bayon comes with robust crash protection and crash-avoidance features which helped to secure it a creditable four-star rating.

The Toyota Yaris Cross followed hot on the heels of the Mirai and Yaris with another five-star rating. The car, available as petrol and HEV petrol, was tested partly in Australia and Europe, two important markets for the Yaris Cross. The result was published in collaboration with sister organisation ANCAP.

In addition to its traditional safety crash and safety tests, Euro NCAP retested two light commercial vans: the Ford Transit and the Ford Transit Custom, after Ford made seat belt reminders as standard for all occupants across the European market. This resulted in two Gold Winners in Euro NCAP’s Commercial Van ranking.

Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general at Euro NCAP said: “Vehicle use in road traffic is the most significant contributor to work-related traumatic injury, so small improvements, especially those that promote seatbelt wearing, can go a long way. Congratulations to Ford for updating their two commercial vans and making the effort of putting seat belt reminders as standard for drivers and co-drivers.”

Finally, Euro NCAP evaluated the electric Volvo XC40 Recharge and plug-in hybrid VW Touareg PHEV. The tester said both cars shared their respective rating with its conventionally-engined siblings tested in 2018.