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Six out of the 10 cars assessed as the safest on Europe’s roads are from Chinese manufacturers
In 2023 Euro NCAP, the Europe-wide safety authority, upgraded its testing procedures, in particular increasing the importance in their ratings given to Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). These are the sophisticated, sensor based technologies that can actively intervene to avoid or mitigate the effects of a vehicle collision. New car models must now undergo these more stringent tests to gain type approval for sale within the European market.
With so many new models from Chinese manufacturers appearing simultaneously it is perhaps less surprising that they feature in such numbers within Euro NCAP’s rankings: only models from other manufacturers launched within the same time frame appear alongside them.
However, the performance of the Chinese brands in these tests shows the transformation the Chinese automotive industry has undergone since its first foray into the European car market during the noughties. In 2007 the Brilliance BS6 sedan was awarded only one safety star following crash testing; two years earlier the Landwind SUV had been hurriedly withdrawn from Europe after ‘catastrophically’ failing the same test programme.
The Euro NCAP data is a salutary reminder, if one were needed, that these new arrivals are competitive in many areas other than price. You can read Sophus3’s full assessment of Chinese car brands’ European strategy here: The Long March: Chinese car brands in Europe.