Mercedes-EQ EQS Scoops Two Awards in Euro NCAP's Safest Cars of 2021
Euro NCAP have kicked off a New Year in car safety by crowning its best-in-class cars of 2021. Among the 33 new cars tested in 2021, 22 achieved the top 5-star rating with the Mercedes-EQ EQS claiming victory in the best 'Executive Car' and 'Pure Electric' categories.
The German automotive retailer received impressive scores of 91% and 96% in the adult occupant and child occupant categories respectively, and 80% in the safety assist category for their debut EV.
Mercedes also claimed runner up in their winning categories, with the Polestar narrowly missing the top spot.
Euro NCAP (otherwise known as the European Car Assessment Programme) are the leaders in car safety, providing consumers with information on the safety of new cars, by carrying out rigorous safety tests.
The Euro NCAP Best-in-Class is awarded to cars which perform best overall in categories and they must have also achieved a 5-star rating, and no critical body region coloured in red in the full-scale tests.
Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP Secretary General, says “2021 was a tough year for the car industry: a shortage of parts, semiconductors in particular, was the sting in the tail of the Covid crisis, affecting development timelines, production and sales. Still, we saw quite a number of new car models coming to the market, many of them electric or hybrid, and many of them achieving five-star ratings despite the demanding requirements. Well done to the winners as well as to the runners-up, some of which were very close contenders for the top slot in their respective categories.”
Other notable winners included Skoda who claimed top spot in the ‘Large Off-Road’ and ‘Small Family Car’ categories, Nissan Qashqai was named best ‘Small Off-Road’ and finally, the Toyota Yaris Cross was crowned best-in-class in the ‘Small MPV’ category.