New Euro NCAP test results are now out, revealing that the Cupra Born electric hatch and Alfa Romeo Tonale and Kia Sportage SUVs have scored the full five stars.  

The Alfa Romeo Tonale performed well in car-to-car and car-to-vulnerable-road-user crash avoidance tests

Mercedes’ MPV partner models, the T-Class and Citan Tourer, also gained five-star ratings in the latest batch of tests while the third-generation Toyota Aygo X supermini and BMW’s all-electric i4 earned four.  

The results show that the Tonale, the first all-new model from Alfa Romeo since the Stelvio in 2016, met all requirements for a five-star rating, despite lacking centre airbags and “proving to be an aggressive collision partner in frontal crashes”. But it performed well in car-to-car and car-to-vulnerable-road-user crash avoidance tests, and it offers an Attention Assist system that can detect driver drowsiness.   

The new Kia Sportage, radically revamped inside and out for its fifth generation, shares a platform with the five-star Hyundai Tucson tested last year. It is equally well equipped and scored very similarly in safety tests, earning five stars as well.

The Cupra Born performance hatch also took the full complement of stars, supported by scores of 93% in adult occupant safety, along with 89% for child occupant, 73% for vulnerable road users and 80% for safety assist.  

Within the van-based MPV segment, the Mercedes-Benz Citan Tourer and its more upmarket T-Class brother also demonstrated their safety credentials. Both share the platform of the Renault Kangoo but are, across the board, better-equipped with a new centre airbag for additional far-side impact protection and high performing active safety features.  

Among the four-star winners, the latest Toyota Aygo X was said to do well overall but forgoes some more advanced safety systems, resulting in its rating.   

And BMW’s battery-electric i4 compact executive car i4, which is fitted with a similar sensor set to the 3 Series tested in 2019, missed out on some critical crash avoidance points, hence its four-star rating.