Revealed: the cars that fail to score highly in Euro NCAP's latest crash tests

Suzuki and Dacia ‘emphasise affordability over safety’ for their latest models, according to Euro NCAP. It rates the popular Suzuki Swift hatchback and Dacia Duster SUV just three stars out of five – versus five stars for all other cars in its latest tests.

Euro NCAP secretary general Dr Michiel van Ratingen warns of a ‘growing split between the safety ambitions of different car brands’, and that direct rival alternatives to the Duster and Swift ‘offer considerably higher levels of safety, and this is something you can't put a price on’'

Problems included both cars getting Euro NCAP’s lowest ‘poor’ rating for protecting occupants being thrown across the vehicle in its side-impact crash test.

We reveal all the latest Euro NCAP results below, including the BMW X2, Mercedes-Benz E-class saloon, Skoda Kodiaq large SUV, Volkswagen Passat estate and more.

Best cars for 2024 Safety is just one of countless areas a vehicles needs to get right to avoid you getting caught out with a costly mistake. Our impartial, assessments ensure that you’re getting true value for money

Why the Suzuki Swift and Dacia Duster fail to get a top grade for safety

Both these cars are certainly attractively priced – they’re easily the cheapest models in Euro NCAP’s latest assessments. But cheap doesn't necessarily mean cheerful. And although we haven't yet tested either of these models, any car we review that gets three stars or fewer in Euro NCAP's test automatically becomes a Which? Don't Buy.

European legislation means that all new cars must now be equipped with autonomous emergency braking (to reduce the force of an imminent collision), motorway lane-keep assistance and driver tiredness detection.

Euro NCAP notes that while the Duster and Swift meet these obligations, they follow it to the letter and ‘do little more’. Euro NCAP tests go further than legislation, and it shows up the limitations in the Duster and Swift’s systems.

That said, since Euro NCAP’s standards ever improve, the Duster and Swift will still be much safer than many cars on the used market – a five-star Euro NCAP score on a car from a decade ago is far off a high NCAP score today.

Find out below exactly where the Swift and Duster fall short in Euro NCAP’s latest tests.

Suzuki Swift (small hatchback, from £18,699*)

Euro NCAP score: 3/5

It’s harder for small cars to perform strongly in crash tests for obvious reasons as larger cars have more bulk on their side. But Euro NCAP states that’s not the full story, saying ‘it’s also due to the brand’s priorities’ in designing their cars, with Dacia’s Duster and Suzuki’s Swift compromising safety for cost.

In Euro NCAP’s frontal crash of the Swift into a deformable barrier, it rated protection for the driver’s chest as ‘weak’, and ‘marginal’ for various body areas for the driver and front seat passenger. It also believes that some dashboard elements pose a risk to the knees and femurs of the driver and front passenger in certain crashes. 

In its side-impact test, the Swift lacks a centre airbag to prevent the heads of the front driver and passenger colliding into each other or the driver being thrown onto the passenger side, giving it a ‘poor’ rating in these areas.

While the Swift has an eCall system to alert emergency services in the event of an accident, it didn’t meet Euro NCAP’s standards. In addition, the Swift has no system to prevent collided cars rolling into others to avoid multiple pile-ups.

For children, it rated the head of an average six year old and the chest of an average 10 year old as ‘marginal’ in a front collision, and protection of the 10-year-old’s neck as ‘weak’, based on readings on the dummies it uses in its crash tests. In a side collision, it rated protection of the chest of a 10-year-old child as ‘poor’ and their head and neck as ‘weak’.

One area of strength in Euro NCAP’s tests for the Swift was for protecting vulnerable road users, scoring 76%. For protecting adults and children it scored 67% and 65%, respectively, and 62% for its safety assistance systems.

We haven’t tested the brand-new Swift yet, but see if its range lives up to its popularity under rigorous tests in our Suzuki Swift (2017-2024) review.

Dacia Duster (mid-size SUV, from £17,295*)

Euro NCAP score: 3/5

In contrast to the Swift, in Euro NCAP’s crash tests the Duster a smaller number of concerns regarding protection of people in the car, and it scored 70% for protecting adults and 84% for protecting children.

Only two areas for adults dented the score a little – Euro NCAP rated the driver’s chest as ‘weak’ in the frontal crash into a deformable barrier and, like the Swift, the Duster lacks a centre airbag or other countermeasure to prevent the driver’s head crashing into that of the front seat occupant or far side of the car in the event of a side-collision, meaning it rated far-side protection as ‘poor’.

The key areas that let down the Duster are its safety assistance systems, which scored 57%, and protection for vulnerable road users, which was rated 60%. Its autonomous emergency braking system was rated ‘good’ in four areas and ‘marginal’ in one by Euro NCAP, but for approaching another car head-on, it got a ‘poor’ rating.

For vulnerable road users, Euro NCAP gave a ‘poor’ verdict on its autonomous emergency braking system’s ability to detect the car reversing into an adult or child, and ‘weak’ for an adult crossing a road the car is turning into. The Dacia also has no system to prevent opening a door into the path of an approaching cyclist.

While we wait for this car to be fully tested at our lab, see if the previous-generation model shows promise in our Dacia Duster (2018-24) review.

Skoda Kodiaq (large SUV, from £36,645*)

Euro NCAP score: 5/5

The no-frills, mid-sized Dacia Duster is very much built down to a price and is comfortably the cheapest SUV on the market. This larger Skoda Kodiaq, by contrast, is aiming to be price-competitive against most other brands’ large SUVs.

It sails through Euro NCAP’s tests, scoring 89% and 83% for protecting adults and children, respectively, 82% for vulnerable road users and 78% for its safety assistance systems – and Euro NCAP didn’t note any significant concerns.

Our lab haven’t tested this latest-gen car yet – in the meantime, have a look at our extensive Skoda Kodiaq (2017-23) review.

Mercedes-Benz E-class (large saloon, from £55,120*)

Euro NCAP score: 5/5

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class also performs strongly in the lion’s share of assessments, although Euro NCAP does warn the car ‘sails close to the wind’ with a low score for protecting the pelvis of pedestrians in the event of a collision, making it ‘uncomfortably close’ to being excluded from getting five stars.

Otherwise, its results are stellar. It scored 92% and 90% for protecting adults and children, respectively, and it lives up to Mercedes’ reputation for technology with a stellar 87% for its safety assistance systems. Its vulnerable road-users score is still good overall, with 84%.

Note that this Euro NCAP’s rating for the Mercedes-Benz E-class doesn’t apply to every version of the car (see the Euro NCAP report on this car for the full list).

So far, we’ve tested a different variant of the new E-class, so the above Euro NCAP score doesn’t apply to our current review). Although, it would be a surprise for a Mercedes car not to score well in Euro NCAP’s tests. See what we think of it in our expert Mercedes-Benz E-class (2023-) review.

Volkswagen Passat (large estate, from £38,490*)

Euro NCAP score: 5/5

This spacious, practical car is an exceptionally safe one, too, according to Euro NCAP. It particularly praises its performance in all four of its main crash tests, saying that the Passat offers ‘exemplary levels of protection’ and ‘good protection to all critical body areas for both adults and children’.

It scores an impressive 93% for protecting adults in the car and 87% for children, plus 82% for protecting vulnerable road users and 80% for its safety assistance systems.

It dipped slightly for vulnerable road users, with one lacking area being a ‘marginal’ rating for the autonomous emergency braking system’s ability to detect when the car is reversing into an adult or child. For safety assistance, the score was slightly reduced by its speed limitation system (which identifies and responds to the local speed limit) not being on by default.

The all-new Passat is too fresh off the production line to have gone through our rigorous Which? test programme yet, but see if this is a car range you should have on your radar in our Volkswagen Passat Estate (2015-24) review.

Even more new cars rated

This month, Euro NCAP has also rated the Skoda Superb, which is a Volkswagen Group twin in its underpinnings to the Volkswagen Passat from a safety point of view, and so is given the same rating.

Euro NCAP also assigned ratings to the new BMW X2 and Renault Rafale HEV, based on tests it did on models with similar underpinnings it tested in 2022 (the BMW X1 and Renault Austral respectively). Euro NCAP notes that like the E-Class, the BMW X2 offers ‘poor’ pedestrian pelvis protection in the event of a collision.

Euro NCAP made its assessments more rigorous in 2023, and so these 2022-based star ratings for the BMW X2 and Renault Rafale HEV aren’t directly comparable with the other cars rated this time round by Euro NCAP.

• BMW X2 (Euro NCAP score: 5/5; £41,680) Check out our previous-gen BMW X2 (2018-23) review).
• Renault Rafale HEV (Euro NCAP score: 5/5; £42,195**) See how its predecessor fared in our Renault Austral (2023-) review.
• Skoda Superb (Euro NCAP score: 5/5; £34,875) We’ve rated the previous generation in our Skoda Superb Estate (2015-24) review.

For the safety ratings of all cars we’ve reviewed and our overall car recommendations, see all our new and used car reviews.

* On-the-Road prices from the manufacturer’s website, correct at time of publishing.
** Manufacturer’s Recommended Retail Price from the manufacturer’s website, correct at time of publishing.