Seven new cars have been tested in the latest round of Euro NCAP assessments. Among those achieving a five-star rating were two new crossover SUVs, the Alfa Romeo Tonale and the latest Kia Sportage, and one full electric car, the Cupra Born. The Mercedes-Benz T-Class and Mercedes-Benz Citan Tourer also qualified for five stars. The Toyota’s Aygo X supermini and BMW’s all-electric i4 earned four stars.
The Tonale, the first all-new model from Alfa Romeo since the Stelvio in 2016, met all requirements for a five-star rating, despite lacking center airbags and proving to be an aggressive collision partner in frontal crashes. Overall, the SUV performed well in car-to-car and car-to-vulnerable road user crash avoidance tests and also offers an Attention Assist system that can detect driver drowsiness. The revamped Kia Sportage shares a platform with the five-star Hyundai Tucson tested last year. It is equally well equipped and scored very similarly in safety tests, earning five stars as well. The same can be said of the Cupra Born, VW Group’s sportier alternative to the ID.3.
In the van-based MPV segment, Mercedes-Benz brought the Citan Tourer and its more upmarket version, the T-Class. Both share a platform with Renault Kangoo but are, across the board, better equipped with a new center airbag for additional far-side impact protection and high performing active safety features.
The Toyota Aygo X, the latest arrival in the highly competitive supermini segment, did well overall but lacks some more advanced safety systems, resulting in a four-star rating. Finally, BMW’s battery electric compact executive car, i4, showed that luxury does not always means better safety performance. Equipped with a similar sensor set to the 3 Series tested in 2019, the sedan missed out on some critical crash avoidance points and thus only attained a four-star rating.