Euro NCAP regularly compiles a list of the vehicles that have achieved the top result in their class in the crash safety reference tests performed during the previous year. For 2021, these “Best in class Cars” include two ŠKODA models: the ŠKODA ENYAQ iV in the SUV class and the ŠKODA FABIA in the compact car class. This makes ŠKODA the only manufacturer to have two class winners in 2021. The ENYAQ iV and the FABIA are the thirteenth and fourteenth new ŠKODA models in direct succession to have received the top rating of five stars since 2008. In 2014, the third-generation FABIA had also been declared best in its class. As the Euro NCAP test requirements become tougher each year, the best-in-class comparison is made only within the years 2020 and 2021 so that all vehicles are assessed against the same standards.
The ŠKODA ENYAQ iV received the maximum rating of five stars and an overall score of 86 per cent of all possible points in the 2021 Euro NCAP test. The first ŠKODA vehicle to be based on the Volkswagen Group’s MEB modular electric car platform achieved outstanding results in the comprehensive crash and safety tests of the European New Car Assessment Programme, particularly in terms of occupant protection. With 94 per cent of available points for Adult Occupant Protection and 89 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, the ŠKODA SUV set a new record in the Euro NCAP tests, which were once again made more stringent, compared to 2020. Since then this percentage has only been exceeded once, by a premium class vehicle.
In its Euro NCAP test, the new ŠKODA FABIA benefited from a further increase in safety due to the switch to the Volkswagen Group’s MQB-A0 Modular Transverse Matrix, which now enables the use of seven modern assistance systems, among other improvements. The successful model’s fourth generation scored 78 per cent of the maximum available points and, like the ENYAQ iV, excelled particularly in the area of occupant protection, with 85 per cent of the possible points for Adult Occupant Protection and 81 per cent of the maximum points for Child Occupant Protection.
The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a scheme founded in 1997 by transport ministries, automobile clubs, insurance associations and research institutes from eight European countries. The consortium is based in the Belgian city of Leuven. It conducts crash tests on current vehicle models and evaluates their active and passive safety as well as their rescue and recovery safety. In recent years, the tests have continuously been made more stringent and now include various collision scenarios. While initially only the results of crash tests were evaluated, the ratings of active safety systems, as well as driver assistance systems, now have a greater weighting in the overall evaluation.
