Euro NCAP has published its first safety ratings of 2021, with two new cars, the Polestar 2 and the Cupra Formentor, achieving the maximum five-star rating.

The Polestar scored highly across all categories, with 92% in Adult Occupant Protection and a stand-out 80% in the Vulnerable Road User assessments. Matthew Avery, Thatcham Research director of research said, “It’s great to see a vehicle from an emerging brand like Polestar perform so well in our safety assessments. Polestar should be applauded loudly for keeping safety high on the agenda, despite everything the pandemic has thrown at the automotive industry over the past year.”

The Cupra’s Autonomous Emergency Braking systems performed very well in testing and can prevent accidents in ‘Turn Across Path’ scenarios. It also has airbags fitted in centre-consoles, to compartmentalise occupants in the event of a lateral impact. As a result, it scored maximum points in this area of testing. Matthew said, “The Cupra Formentor makes no compromises on safety. It's exciting to see two completely new brands scoring five-star ratings from the get-go."