Second round of results for Euro NCAP in 2022, with only three vehicles assessed. And the scores are mixed. What will hold the attention is, of course, the new bad note at Dacia. A few weeks after spring it’s the turn of the jogger to have only one star.
Important clarification: to assess the new family vehicle of the Romanian company, the independent organization took the result of the Sandero Stepway, which had two stars in 2021. Euro NCAP indicates that the Jogger is very close to the city car, with the same technical basis and the same technological content. A few more tests have just been done.
The Jogger therefore has the same score as the Sandero in protection for adults, namely 70%. For the protection of children this is 69%, against 72% for the Sandero. For these two results it is correct. In fact, the model is usually heavily loaded by the rest, which depend on the driver assistance. However, the Jogger is voluntarily content with the essentials, with regard to its price positioning. So there is a score of only 39% for equipment and 41% for pedestrian/cyclist protection.
When the Spring had a star, the brand explained to Caradisiac that it’s not a star race, because that means equipping vehicles with equipment and technologies that customers don’t want to pay for today. Dacia recalled that its products are approved and comply with European regulations.
Given the sales of the Spring, we suspect that the Dacia customer understood that this was not a concern. This can be trickier for manufacturers with a high-end positioning. And see the news DS4 with only four stars seems more problematic. Specifically, there are two ratings for the DS 4: four stars with the standard safety equipment, five stars with the comprehensive safety package. With this, emergency braking works with a radar next to the camera, making it more efficient itself. Optional on the first levels, this equipment comes standard in the mid-range, a stingy one at this price level that therefore costs a star.
However, it is worth remembering that this does not change anything for the protection of the driver and his passengers. In both assessments, the score for adult occupants is 85%, for children 86%. Good results. Ditto for pedestrians and cyclists, it is 74%. The change thus concerns safety equipment, with 82% for the best equipped DS4, 65% for the basic version. So that’s a single difference a star takes away. But less luxurious models, such as the Volkswagen Polo, did not make this mistake.
Finally, the Honda HR-V also got four stars, which is the only overall score. If he had 82% for adults, he fishes a bit on the kid side, at only 75%, with the youngest’s heads at risk in side impacts.
