Euro NCAP has published the safety ratings of four new vehicles.

Two BMW’s - the 1 Series and the 3 Series – both achieve a maximum five-star rating. The Jeep Cherokee and the Peugeot 208 settle for four stars apiece.   

BMW’s 1 Series, now in its third generation and, for the first time, a front-wheel drive car, maintains a five-star rating and continues BMW’s recent string of safety successes. Its score in adult occupant protection would have been higher were it not for its front seat narrowly missing a ‘good’ rating for Whiplash protection. The full marks the car got for its AEB City performance were not included in the adult occupant protection score as a result.             

BMW’s larger family car, the 3 Series, has also been restyled and is now in its 7th generation.  BMW has brought the car up to date with the best safety performance of any large family car tested by Euro NCAP against the 2018/2019 protocols.       

Euro NCAP Secretary General, Michiel van Ratingen, said:  “It’s good to see the premium brands, from Germany and elsewhere, maintaining the very high standards they have set for themselves and continuing to achieve five-star ratings. I’m sure that BMW’s customers can be confident that the company will continue to strive for the highest standards of safety, even as our protocols get tougher and tougher.”   

The Peugeot 208 narrowly misses out on a five-star rating, so drops a star compared to the previous-generation vehicle, that offered fewer standard safety technology but was tested against less stringent requirements in 2012. The supermini meets the five-star requirements in all areas except the protection of vulnerable road users, so ends up with a four-star rating  overall. The Jeep Cherokee sits squarely in four-star territory, with good but unexceptional performance across the board, but a huge improvement over its larger stablemate, the Wrangler, tested last year.