The Lancia Delta has become the latest Fiat Group Automobiles' model to be awarded a maximum 5-star rating in the EuroNCAP crash tests, a rating that is now prerequisite for selling cars in the European markets and it continues Fiat's emphasis on the area of occupants safety. It joins recent models including the Fiat 500, Croma and Bravo in collecting the important 5-star rating.

The Delta was awarded the EuroNCAP 5-star rating for adult occupancy after collecting 34 points. The model tested was equipped with a 1.6-litre Multijet engine and was in Argento specification. The 34 points total was made up for 14 points for the front impact test, 16 for side impact, 2 for seatbelt reminder and a further 2 for the pole test. "The occupant compartment and footwell remained stable during the impact," commented EuroNCAP for the front impact test. "The dummy results showed that the front seat occupants' knees and femurs were well protected. Lancia showed that the restraint systems would provide similar levels of protection to the legs of different sized occupants and to those sat in different seating positions." For the side EuroNCAP said: "The car scored maximum points for its performance in the side impact and pole tests."

For the child protection test the Delta collected 33 points (3-star rating). "In the frontal impact, the chest of the 3 year dummy was exposed to high vertical accelerations, indicating a risk of injury," said EuroNCAP. "The passenger's airbag can be disabled via the onboard computer to allow a rearward facing child restraint to be used in that seating position. However, information presented to the users regarding the status of the airbag is not sufficiently clear. The label warning against using a rearward facing child restraint in that position without disabling the airbag was provided in all of the languages where the vehicle is sold. The presence of ISOFIX anchorages in the rear outboard seats was not clearly marked." For the pedestrian test EuroNCAP reported: "The bonnet leading edge offered only a poor level of protection for a pedestrian's legs. The bonnet top was also rated as predominantly poor for the protection offered to an adult's head."

Meanwhile EuroNCAP announced at the same time that the provisions of the testing would be altered from next year at the same time as it announced the results for five cars in five different vehicles. At the same time as presenting the Delta results, they also revealed scores for the Daihatsu Cuore, Hyundai i30, Renault Koleos and the Mercedes Benz - ML class. Four of these five cars received the maximum five-star award for adult occupant protection. Yet, not one of them achieved higher than a two star score in Euro NCAP’s pedestrian rating. Euro NCAP plans to address this concern with the launch of a new rating system in 2009. 

When Euro NCAP was established in 1997 the achievement of five stars in adult occupant protection did not even seem possible. Ten years later, out of the 34 car models tested and assessed by Euro NCAP in one year, 97% of them achieve either a four or a five star result. Yet there are still areas of safety that Euro NCAP believes need to be prioritised by manufacturers and where lives could be saved. In comparison to these good adult occupant protection results, no manufacturer achieves a four star result in pedestrian protection. In our tests last year, 67% of models were awarded just two stars in this rating, despite approaching legislation. Euro NCAP is concerned that many manufacturers set out to achieve high scores for adult occupant protection to attract consumers, whilst compromising safety investment in other areas. Euro NCAP believes that consumers are interested in the safety offered to all occupants and also to other road users when they are choosing a new car. For this reason, Euro NCAP is developing a new rating system that will reward the overall safety of a vehicle.

Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP says ‘I am delighted that more and more manufacturers are achieving five stars in our crash-tests, but it is imperative that Euro NCAP continues to set higher benchmarks for car makers to aspire to. Our new rating system will do this. I have no doubt that manufacturers will step up to the challenge, just as they did when we first started. The creation of new technologies means enhanced safety performance and a potential reduction of fatalities on our roads. We intend to reward those manufacturers that make this their ultimate goal.’

The maximum rating in Euro NCAP’s new system will continue to be five stars. However, the new overall rating will reflect the protection offered to adult and child occupants as well as pedestrians and will, for the first time, consider the safety potential of advanced driver assistance technologies such as electronic stability control. The assessment of adult occupant protection will be expanded to include whiplash testing. The first results for vehicles tested under this new rating system will be released in February 2009.