Gulf widens between the manufacturers

The gulf between vehicle manufacturers that are taking the protection of people from injury in the event of a crash seriously, particularly pedestrians, and those who are not is widening, according to the chairman of the European New Car Assessment Programme.

The organisation says that some manufacturers are 'still lazy about safety' and singled out the Chrysler Voyager for particular criticism after it received a 'poor safety score' of two stars with the last star struck through, seven years after it originally received a two-star result.

Meanwhile, Korean manufacturers Hyundai and Kia were also singled out after the Hyundai Santa Fe received a zero-star rating for its pedestrian protection after failing to score a single point and the Kia Magentis scored only three points for a one-star rating.

Meanwhile, the all-new Honda Legend has become the fi rst car from the Japanese manufacturer to earn a five-star rating - it also notched four stars for child protection and three stars for pedestrian protection - while the new Toyota Auris was given similar ratings in each of the three areas.

Euro NCAP chairman Claes Tingvall said: "These are appalling results from these two Korean manufacturers. It has taken the car industry a long time to address the issue of pedestrian safety but several manufacturers are now making improvements and the Toyota Auris joins a growing list of three-star cars. For the Santa Fe not to score a single point shows that Hyundai has made no effort whatever to protect pedestrians and reflects a worrying disregard for the safety of this important group of road-users. Manufacturers like Hyundai and Kia are now a long way behind the front-runners and it is high time that they realise that such poor results are unacceptable.

"I am continually disappointed by the lack of commitment and effort shown by manufacturers to improving the level of pedestrian protection in their vehicles. This is an area where there are few front-runners and massive room for improvement."

Commenting on Chrysler's performance, he said: "I find it shocking that, in seven years, this manufacturer has not been able to improve the safety of this MPV - a car that is clearly targeting families.

"Still worse is that Chrysler continues to sell this version in the UK while a better-equipped and better-performing version is available in left hand drive across the rest of Europe.

"I do hope that Chrysler intends to show a greater commitment to safety in the future."

A Chrysler spokesman said the vehicle met or exceeded all regulatory and safety requirements in the markets where it was sold.

He also highlighted that 'significant improvements' had been made to the model since the previous test including an enhanced safety cage, multi-stage front airbags, fulllength side curtain airbag, front seat belts with constant force retractors and many additional passive safety features.

He added: "The Chrysler Group is constantly working to improve the safety performance of our vehicles in extreme crash tests, like those conducted by Euro NCAP, as they provide valuable information that we can take into account for future models."

A Kia spokesman admitted the company was 'disappointed' with its Euro NCAP crash test performance and highlighted that one of the company's aims was to improve crash protection, including pedestrian safety, across its vehicle line-up.

He said that Magentis was a big-selling vehicle for Kia in the United States and that crash tests in America had repeatedly shown the vehicle to perform well in providing protection.

The spokesman said Euro NCAP crash tests results for Kia's new C'eed model would be published shortly and the company expected a five-star rating occupant protection rating.

Meanwhile, a Hyundai spokesman said they were independent tests undertaken by an independent organisation and suggested that sports utility vehicles rarely scored well in terms of pedestrian protection.

Euro NCAP results are listed on the next two pages (only vehicles tested since 2004). For previous test results visit www.euroncap.com

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