Euro NCAP 2020: The Year in Numbers

27 January 2021

Story from EuroNCAP.

A look back at how Euro NCAP covered a year that began with the outbreak of a pandemic, followed by lockdowns and social distancing rules.  Euro NCAP testing was put on hold for a few months but was able to resume in the middle of the year thanks to Euro NCAP’s labs and employees who quickly adapted to Covid-proof working practices.

The spread of the coronavirus led to a significant drop in new passenger car sales and the cancellation or postponement of several announced vehicle models.

This big downturn coincided with the adoption of new tests by Euro NCAP to address longstanding needs in occupant protection, improve post-crash protection and promote the latest advanced driver assistance technology.  A key change was the adoption of a new moving barrier to moving car frontal crash test to evaluate partner as well as occupant protection.  Side impact protection requirements were strengthened by increasing the barrier mass and its test speed and by the introduction of a new far-side impact protection test, focussing on driver protection and the potential interaction between driver and front seat passenger.  New, challenging test scenarios were added to rate technology designed to avoid collisions with other vehicles and with vulnerable road users, including turning at a crossing. 

In addition, the first steps were taken to reward Driver Status Monitoring systems, which detect driver fatigue and distraction. 

Finally, new rating rules were implemented to promote better post-crash safety, along with the release of the Euro Rescue application for first responders.

Download 2020: The Year in Numbers.