Automotive News Europe - January 5, 2009 - 12

PAGE 12 · www.autonewseurope.com January 5, 2009 EuroNCAP toughens car safety test Starting in February it will be harder to earn the group’s coveted 5-star rating Tony Lewin Automotive News Europe Starting in February, new test procedures will mean fewer cars will earn EuroNCAP’s five-star rating for crash safety. Once fully implemented, EuroNCAP’s stricter methods of assessment will mean that it will be impossible for a model to get the top score of five stars unless: Its seats offer adequate protection against whiplash Electronic stability control is fitted to at least 50 percent of the model’s production Seat-belt reminders are included for all seats It reaches a set standard for pedestrian protection. Of the 30 cars tested most recently by EuroNCAP, 17 earned five stars and 12 were awarded four stars for adult occupant safety. Yet the average score for pedestrian protection was less than two stars – just half the possible maximum of four. The changes are part of a sweeping overhaul of the EuroNCAP safety rating system, which will result in a single overall score for the whole vehicle rather than three separate scores. EuroNCAP (short for European New Car Assessment Program) is a government-supported, independent car-testing organization. Automakers strive for high EuroNCAP ratings to help promote the safety of their cars to consumers. Since the EuroNCAP system was introduced in 1997, ratings have been provided for adult occupant protec- The old way EuroNCAP’s top scores Adult occupant safety Child occupant safety Pedestrian protection 5 stars 5 stars 4 stars The new system EuroNCAP’s top scores starting in February 2009 Adult occupant safety Child occupant safety Pedestrian protection Safety assist 36 points* 49 points 36 points 7 points** *Based on test results for frontal impact (top score: 16); side and pole impact (top score: 8 each); and whiplash protection (top score: 4); Note: EuroNCAP puts more emphasis on adult occupant protection results. The points here are worth approximately half in the overall score. **Based on test results for electronic stability control (top score: 3); driver-set speed limiter (top score: 1); seat-belt reminder (top score: 3) In the future, car seats will need to offer better whiplash protection to earn a top safety score from EuroNCAP. tion. Later, separate scores for child occupant and pedestrian protection were added. Although there are three different tests, this system enabled automakers to claim a five-star result even though the car’s pedestrian or child safety performance was inadequate. for pedestrian protection and to make sure they move toward standard fitment of ESC [electronic stability control],” van Ratingen told Automotive News Europe. Van Ratingen was speaking on the sidelines of a EuroNCAP event to launch a new area of safety that it will assess – the whiplash protection offered by a car’s front seats. In results released last month from the organization’s first round of whiplash tests, only five out of the 25 seats assessed were rated as good. That means they earned between three and four points, which is the top score. Twelve seats were rated marginal, while eight earned less than 1.5 points and were classified as poor. According to EuroNCAP, a person’s risk of suffering a long-term injury from a low-speed rear-end collision is significantly higher in seats that earned a poor score. Three of the eight seats that earned a poor score are in cars that had just scored five stars for adult occupant protection – the Citroen C5, Ford Kuga and Peugeot 308CC. The Peugeot’s seat was one of three to score zero points. In the future, it will be impossible for a car with such a low whiplashprotection score to get five stars overall, Van Ratingen said. The new single overall safety rating will combine results from the three familiar areas – adult, child and pedestrian protection – but will add an important fourth heading: safety assist, or the ability to avoid an accident. This, said Van Ratingen, will include seat-belt reminders, ESC and speed-limiting devices. ESC is expected to be mandatory in Europe for all new cars by 2014. Before that happens, models sold in Europe in 2009 only will be eligible for five stars from EuroNCAP if ESC is standard equipment in half of a the car’s lineup and optional for another 35 percent of the car’s production. overall star ratings that automakers will be able to publicize. Impact on ratings Starting this year no car with a pedestrian score below two will be able to gain a five-star overall rating. By 2012, the pressure to improve pedestrian protection will increase. Only cars with a pedestrian safety score of 3.5 or more will be eligible for a five-star overall rating. The highest score so far in almost eight years of pedestrian protection assessment by EuroNCAP is four. That score was earned by the Citroen C6, which has a pop-up hood. Ford, for one, says that the upgraded requirements represent a “significant challenge” to car manufacturers. “It is not yet clear whether these [2012 requirements] can be achieved for all vehicle types and sizes,” said spokesman Finn Thomasen in an email response to questions from ANE. “The issue is exacerbated by problems and limitations of the current testing and assessment protocols. EuroNCAP is setting up a strategic working group to review the whole issue of pedestrian testing.” Ford, said Thomasen, is looking forward to working with this group during 2009 and arriving at a better, more repeatable and consistent procedure for assessing pedestrian ANE protection. Whiplash protection assessed The new system is designed to give consumers a clearer picture of the differences between models and to give automakers higher safety benchmarks to aim for, EuroNCAP, Secretary General Michiel Van Ratingen said. “In particular, we want to encourage manufacturers to do much more New way of working To get five stars in 2010, ESC has to be standard in 90 percent of all of the car’s unit sales in the 27 EU member states. “We see the greatest growth in our assessment program being under the heading of safety assist,” said Van Ratingen. “The biggest gains [in safety] are still to be found in the area of active safety.” Starting in 2009, said Van Ratingen, points would already be awarded for some speed limiter systems. EuroNCAP expects to have its assessment framework for advanced speed limiting devices ready by 2010. Including pedestrian protection ratings into each model’s overall score will have a big impact on the Most cars sold in Europe score poorly on EuroNCAP’s test for pedestrian protection. One exception is the Citroen C6, which earned a top score of 4 stars. Commentary GM should play Opel card to solve Saturn problem Why doesn’t General Motors just hand over the keys to its troubled Saturn brand to its German affiliate, Opel? GM doesn’t have an extra billion or so dollars to buy out Saturn dealers and shutter the brand. And GM could be in legal trouble if it starves Saturn to death. So, the obvious and best thing for GM to do is merge Saturn and Opel. Here’s why it makes sense for Opel and Saturn to be merged: Saturn has a US-wide dealer network with 425 or so stores with the right customer demographics – younger buyers who often prefer import brands – for Opel’s vehicles. GM could transfer all design, engineering and marketing responsibility for Saturn to Opel and wipe a brand off its North American books. Saturn dealers would change to Opel, and the Saturn badge would be retired. But, unlike Oldsmobile, dealers would not go out of business. Chevrolet dealers would be ecstatic. They’ve resented Saturn from the start for draining away resources they thought should have gone to Chevrolet. Saturn’s old factory in Tennessee could also be transferred to Opel, giving the German brand a plant in the dollar zone that is already cranking out vehicles and could be quickly tooled up to take on Volkswagen’s new Chattanooga factory. With Ford revamping its US lineup to include many of its popular European cars, Opel could be the GM brand that best competes with the new Ford Fiesta, next-generation Focus, C-Max, Kuga of fuel-efficient, Germanand others. Opel would engineered cars that would also compete with MINI, not directly compete on Smart and Alfa Romeo price or image with other when it returns. GM vehicles. Opel already has a foot Despite Opel not selling in the door at Saturn a car here under its own dealers with the Astra name, the company knows hatchback, which is the US market. Richard Truett built in Germany for Opel’s US history dates Saturn. Opel could flesh from the late 1950s, when out its US offerings with EuroBuick dealers sold the brand. Opel pean vehicles such as the Corsa is probably best known in the US and the Insignia. for the classic GT sports coupe, Opel sold cars in the US through dubbed “the poor man’s Corvette.” Buick dealers from the late 1950s to That was in the early 1970s. the mid 1970s. And for years, it has In the mid 1990s, a rebadged wanted to come back under its own Omega appeared in the US as the name. Cadillac Catera. That car brought Taking control of Saturn would entry-level buyers to Cadillac and be the quickest and least expensive helped pave the way for the sucway for Opel to do so with a brand cessful CTS. Killing Saturn would be a monumental mistake that would alienate many of the most loyal buyers GM has. I’d bet Saturn fans would be cool with a transition to Opel. American roads are going to look more like those in Europe in the coming years as expensive fuel forces US drivers to downsize out of SUVs and big cars. That trend will be accelerated as small, powerful and clean diesel engines find their way back into passenger cars. Merging Saturn and Opel is a golden opportunity for GM to leverage its global resources and do the right thing financially, legally and morally by its dealers. It also positions GM to grab younger US buyers who think import brands are cool. E-m

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Automotive News Europe - January 5, 2009

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