First Ever Five Star Safety Rating For Cars Built In Latin America
New crash test results released by Latin NCAP show locally produced cars are starting to offer consumers good crash protection. Models built in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina by Ford and Volkswagen are the first built in the region to achieve a five-star adult safety rating. With more consumers checking the safety rating of new cars before buying, vehicle manufacturers have been updating their models to perform better in the Latin NCAP’s crash tests.
Latin NCAP President María Fernanda Rodríguez said: “Latin America’s vehicles are entering a new era in safety. The manufacturers of our region are reacting as in other regions when the first five-star cars were introduced. Brands with safe vehicles and those wishing to improve their safety are striving to demonstrate it. In five tests, three cars are five stars and two are four stars. This is a real change, a big change that benefits all of us: the people in cars, the health system, insurance, and government. It’s also great to see the example of Hyundai making an effort to improve child safety by repeating a test. All of Latin NCAP’s partners agree this is the best way to end the year and to begin 2014 with a positive outlook.”
Global NCAP’s Technical Director, Alejandro Furas, said: “When consumers in Latin America buy a new car, they expect that their families are given the best possible protection. With more cars built here receiving five-star safety ratings, the gap between Latin America and other markets is closing. Car makers and consumers are paying attention to the results of our crash tests and we’re seeing positive progress.”
The Hyundai HB20, made in Brazil, has been retested after Hyundai upgraded the car’s safety features, seeking to improve its three-star adult and one-star child safety ratings. Hyundai has improved protection for the driver’s legs and chest, revised the car’s overall construction and made ISOFIX-compatible child restraints (CRS) available for the test. As a result, the HB20 has achieved a four-star rating for adult occupant protection and three stars for child occupant protection. “We welcome Hyundai’s effort to improve the HB20’s performance in our crash tests,” said Furas. “With these changes now in production, protection for adults and children is improved.”
Ford also made improvements to its Brazil-built EcoSport after receiving a four-star rating for adult occupant protection and three stars for child occupants. To receive a five-star rating, Ford has added a seatbelt reminder to the passenger seat and has sponsored side-impact testing. The EcoSport’s three-star child occupant safety rating is unchanged.
The US-made Chevrolet Malibu received a four-star rating for adult occupant safety and just one star for child occupant safety. The vehicle tested, was the base model equipped with 10 airbags for Latin America. “Protection for front passengers in the Chevrolet Malibu is good and shows this model’s potential to reach five stars,” said Furas. “Seatbelt reminders are fitted but did not meet Latin NCAP requirements.”
The Malibu received just one star for child occupant safety as both child dummies’ heads made contact with the back of the front seats. “Malibu has ISOFIX anchorages, but CRS with ISOFIX are not available according to Latin NCAP protocols and could not be used in the test,” said Furas. The Malibu is also the first car in the programme to have a CRS detection system on board that disables the front passenger airbag when a rearward facing CRS is detected on the front seat which is a great system that we would like to see more and in fact we award points for this kind of technologies. However, due to a lack of proper warning signals, the system could not score points in the assessment.
The Mexico-made VW Jetta, or Vento, achieved five stars for Adult Occupant safety, offering very good protection. The four-star rating for Child Occupant Safety was helped by the car’s fitment of ISOFIX CRS for children. “The VW Jetta is a locally produced model that offers very good protection – this is encouraging for Latin NCAP and for consumers,” said Furas.
The Argentina-built third-generation Ford Focus also received a five-star result for Adult Occupant safety, offering very good protection. The Focus received four stars for Child Occupant Safety, also using ISOFIX CRS.
“The good protection provided by the Ford Focus, Ford EcoSport and the VW Jetta shows that local factories can produce five-star cars,” said Furas. “We’re looking forward to crash testing more and more cars like this and we are heartened by the efforts to improve safety for consumers.
Note to editors
Latin NCAP’s four-star safety rating applies to Hyundai HB20 models with a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of IJA132716 or higher. Four-star HB20S models have a VIN of IJF132489 or higher. Four-star HB20X models have a VIN of IJS130790 or higher. The four-star Ford EcoSport has a VIN of 9BFZB55P9 E8843021 or higher.
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