The New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin NCAP, second publication for 2022 shows encouraging 5 star results for more affordable models while Honda disappoints with a one star result.
The Volkswagen Nivus made in Brazil equipped with 6 airbags (frontal, side body and side head airbags) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as standard, was rated with five stars. The compact crossover achieved 92.47% in Adult Occupant box, 91.57% in Child Occupant box, 48.74% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users box and 84.95% in Safety Assist box.
The car was tested in frontal impact, side impact, side pole impact, whiplash, pedestrian protection, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) city and interurban, Speed Assist and ESC. All the standard and tested equipment showed good performance allowing the Nivus to achieve 5 stars. Pedestrian Protection was expected to show better results and that AEB for Pedestrian and Vulnerable Road Users would have been available. Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Lane Support Systems (LSS) and Road Edge Detection (RED) could also help to score higher. The European twin model, the Taigo, does offer the ADAS equipment as standard while it is only optional and for some versions in Latin America.
The Honda WR-V made in Brazil and equipped with two frontal airbags and ESC as standard, was rated with one star. The compact crossover achieved 41.03% in Adult Occupant box, 40.66% in Child Occupant box, 58.82% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users box and 48.84% in Safety Assist box.
The car was tested in frontal impact, side impact, whiplash, pedestrian protection and ESC. The lack of side curtain airbags as standard limited the score and better performance in Adult Protection Box. The seatbelts do not meet Latin NCAP requirements of UN or FMVSS regulations. The lack of passenger airbag disabling switch explains the low score for Child Occupant Protection. Passive Pedestrian Protection was good and ESC performance was also acceptable.
Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Latin NCAP said:
“Consumers should be pleased to find more popular models reaching 5 stars. It surprises Latin NCAP to find such a differences between the Nivus and WR-V, which are competitors in the same segment, as the Honda just scored one star mainly due to lack of safety equipment. Latin NCAP strongly encourages Honda to improve the WR-V and soon bring again 5 star models to the region as the last time it happened was back in 2015”.
Stephan Brodziak, Latin NCAP Chairman said:
“It is very promising that some manufacturers such as Volkswagen are already including advanced driving assistance technologies with a greater share of their percentage of sales, we hope that very soon they become standard for all new models on sale in the market, since they can help to save many lives on our streets, mainly vulnerable users. Meanwhile, we emphatically call on Honda to improve the safety performance of the popular cars being sold in our region, we deserve the same kind of safety that Honda offers to consumers in Japan and Europe”.
SOURCE: Global NCAP
