GLOBAL NCAP AND AA SOUTH AFRICA LAUNCH
#SAFERCARSFORAFRICA
Global NCAP and AA South Africa launch #SaferCarsforAfrica today (22) in Cape Town, with the first independent crash test assessment of some of South Africa’s most popular compact and small cars. The crashworthiness results of the five cars tested show a wide range of safety performance, from four to zero stars for adult protection, with the lowest ratings resulting in a high probability of life-threatening injury in a road crash.
The models tested include South Africa’s best-selling car, the VW Polo Vivo. The Datsun Go+, Toyota Etios, Renault Sandero and Chery QQ3 also underwent the safety assessment. Combined sales of these five cars account for around 65% of all the new cars sold in South Africa last year. Global NCAP chose the entry-level version of each model and as a result one of them was not fitted with airbags as standard. The results highlight differences in the structural integrity of the vehicles tested.
TOYOTA ETIOS
The Etios achieved a four-star rating for adult occupant protection in the frontal crash test at 64km/h.
The vehicle structure was rated as stable, offering good general adult occupant protection. The car included seatbelts with pretensioners for both front passengers. Using the child seats recommended by Toyota, the Etios achieved a three-star rating for child occupant protection.
RENAULT SANDERO
The Sandero achieved a three star rating for adult occupant protection in the frontal crash test at 64km/h.
The vehicle structure was rated as stable, offering acceptable general adult occupant protection. The car did not include seatbelt pretensioners. Using the child seats recommended by Renault, the Sandero achieved a four star rating for child occupant protection.
VOLKSWAGEN POLO VIVO
The Polo Vivo achieved a three star rating for adult occupant protection in the frontal crash test at 64km/h.
The vehicle structure was rated as stable, offering acceptable adult occupant protection. The car did not include seatbelt pretensioners. Using the child seats recommended by VW, the Polo Vivo achieved a three star rating for child protection.
DATSUN GO+
The GO+ achieved a one star rating for its poor adult occupant protection mainly in the Driver chest in the frontal crash test at 64km/h.
The vehicle structure was rated as unstable, steering wheel movement, even though a steering wheel airbag was fitted, recorded high compression to the chest of the driver dummy. There was no airbag for the passenger. The Datsun GO+ achieved a two star rating for child occupant protection using the child seats.
CHERY QQ3
The QQ3 achieved a zero star rating for its poor adult occupant protection mainly in driver’s head and chest. The vehicle structure was rated as unstable as showed collapsed in some relevant areas during the impact. Injury impacts recorded in the dummy head and chest in particular led to this result. There were no airbags for the adult passengers.
The manufacturer did not recommend specific child seats which explains most of the points loss for child occupant protection. The QQ3 was given a zero star rating for child occupant protection, considering the poor vehicle readiness to safely accommodate the child seats.