Euro NCAP releases the safety ratings of four new vehicles. Two compact SUVs, the Mercedes-Benz’s GLB and the Mazda’s CX-30, and the larger Ford Explorer HYBRID have joined the ranks of five stars vehicles published this year. Opel/Vauxhall’s supermini, the Corsa, earned four stars.
The best performer of this round is without doubt the Mazda CX-30, a subcompact crossover in between the CX-3 and CX-5, which has achieved a near-perfect 99 percent score for Adult Occupant Protection. The car, which shares much of its DNA with the all-new Mazda 3 tested earlier this year, nowtops the list for this part of the assessment against Euro NCAP’s 2018/2019 protocols.
Mercedes-Benz once again delivers a solid five-star performance with the new GLB compact SUV. In a busy year for the company, the GLB becomes the sixth Mercedes-Benz to be rated this year, and the sixth to achieve the maximum safety rating. Ford’s seven-seat Explorer also gets a top rating. The latest version of this large off-roader, which has been on sale in the US in various forms for nearly three decades, comes to Europe in plug-in hybrid form and performs well in Euro NCAP’s tests.
The supermini segment has increasingly come under pressure in recent years from increasing environmental and safety requirements and a change in consumer appetite. Opel/Vauxhall’s new Corsa, however, achieves four stars, just like the previous generation car did against the requirements in 2014. The Corsa shares much of its underpinnings with the latest Peugeot 208, which was also rated as four stars earlier this year. Performing above the five-star requirements in three of Euro NCAP’s four areas of assessment, the Corsa only missed the top rating by a single percentage point in Safety Assist.
