Safest Automobiles of 2019

MATILDA FRANCES

Revolution in the automotive industry reached a crescendo in the year 2019. The year when electric vehicles became a reality and captured the future it was.

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]espite the development, safety was kept at the front burner by most auto makers around the world, led by the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mazda and surprising enough, Tesla.

Through the year, safety testing bodies around the world, especially, European New Car Assessment Programme (EuroNCAP) kept up the volume, crashing new models from many reputable auto makers to test what happens, in case of real life road accident involving driver, passengers and of course, pedestrians.

Of all the cars crashed, many fell by the way side, not making more than 2 stars. Some made three stars and others 4, albeit the ultimate is 5 stars.

Leading Five star crown winners include Mercedes-Benz, which  regained its crown in the best performing Small Family Car category. Mercedes-Benz  CLA,  the sporty alternative to the A-Class Sedan, became EuroNCAP’s Best in Class in 2019. It achieved a score of more than 90 percent in three of the four areas of safety and delivered the best overall rating of the year.

Remarkably, the German auto maker launched five more five-star vehicles in 2019, all with outstanding crash protection and driver assistance technology.

Interestingly, electric car makers rolled into the market vehicles that survived crash test, even scoring highest ratings of 5 star. Leader in that terrain was Tesla, which did not only make a strong appearance in 2019, but recorded for its Model X  a crown in the Large Off-Road category, with the SEAT Tarraco in second place.

The Tesla Model 3 is top of the ‘Electric and Hybrid’ vehicle class and, together with BMW’s 3 Series, shares topspot in the Large Family category.

Although the two cars ended up with identical overall scores, the BMW scored better in pedestrian protection, while the Tesla edged BMW in Safety Assist. Škoda’s new Octavia ended the year as runner-up in this category.

Off-road/Small MPV class

In the combined Small Off-road/Small MPV class, Subaru led with the new Forester, with excellent all-round performance. Mazda’s CX-30 and VW’s T-Cross follows closely in this category.

Despite missing out on the top spot, Mazda had an excellent year, with the Mazda 3 turning in an exceptional performance in adult occupant protection and taking the second place to the Mercedes-Benz CLA in the Small Family Car category.

Supermini class

The year 2019 experienced a tie in the Supermini class, as the sporty Audi A1 and top-selling Renault Clio, two of  Europe’s most popular and desirable hatchbacks for years, rubbed shoulders at crash test. Their latest generations arrived in 2019 and came out equally well in EuroNCAP’s crash tests. While newcomer Ford Puma ended as runner-up in this category.

The Supermini segment remains the most competitive in the market, as is illustrated by the presence of 3, 4 and 5 star cars in the list and the winners, according to EuroNCAP, deserve extraordinary credits for their uncompromising stance on safety.

Finally, BMW made a remarkable and exclusive safety outing its Z4, the only roadster tested in 2019.

Recording an outstanding performance, BMW Z4 set a new safety benchmark for the segment.

A video compiling images of all 2019 Best in Class cars is available on our YouTube channel. Detailed results and crash test pictures of all rewarded cars are published on our website.