Unveiled in September last year, Dacia’s new Sandero and Logan are a big step forward for the company. Finally based on a more modern architecture, the two budget cars from Romania were launched with added comfort and style, more efficient engines, and many tech improvements. It turns out those upgrades were not enough to impress Euro NCAP though, which gave them just two out of five stars for safety.
The European safety performance assessment programme recently crash-tested the two new Dacia models and remained disappointed by the lack of more advanced and more precise safety systems. While the overall crash protection level was “respectable,” Euro NCAP says the two cars come with a basic, radar-only autonomous emergency braking system that doesn’t detect pedestrians or cyclists.
Gallery: New Dacia Sandero Stepway, Euro NCAP crash tests
“Safety has moved on and the biggest strides forward are now being made by using high-tech to prevent accidents from happening,” Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP, comments. “Clearly, Dacia have found their market and they’re sticking to it, but a two-star rating shows little ambition, even for a low-cost product. Their decision not to offer a camera clearly is out of step with the market and disappointing as Dacia are aware that their cars will soon have to comply with the new General Safety Regulation.”
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Generally speaking, the organisation says that if it wasn't for the lack of more sophisticated electronic assist systems, the car would have received four stars. As technology advances though, Euro NCAP is starting to penalise new models that lack safety equipment as standard or feature less efficient systems.
The Leuven-based safety program also tested the Volkswagen ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq iV, which both scored a five-star rating. Euro NCAP praises the VW Group electric crossovers not only for their advanced safety systems but also for their “robust structures.”
Source: Euro NCAP