Volvo’s dream of no road deaths in its new cars by 2020 is closer than ever

Volvo has vowed to bring car safety to a new level, by pledging that no one shall be killed in one of its vehicles built from the next decade.

It was something first announced back in 2008, but the firm’s safety centre vice president Malin Ekholm has reaffirmed this vision. She made the promise after the XC60 was crowned the best-performing car of 2017 in the prestigious Euro NCAP 2017 Best in Class safety awards.

The XC60 scored a near-perfect 98 per cent in the Adult Occupant category, and 95 per cent in its Large Off-Road class – 20 per cent higher than the nearest competitor.

“Our vision is that by 2020 no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new,”
said Ekholm.

“The new XC60 is one of the safest Volvo cars ever made. It is fully loaded with new technology designed to assist drivers, to help protect vehicle occupants and other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, plus mitigate collision risks.

“The achievements of the XC60 are examples of our commitment to developing the latest safety and support systems as we strive towards that vision.”

She added: “We are proud that our ongoing commitment to innovating new safety features has been recognised with another Best in Class award.”

Most of the models tested in 2017 by safety regulator Euro NCAP were new to the market and many achieved the maximum five-star rating.

But older, facelifted models fared worse, this reflected a lack of advanced restraint systems and driver-assistance technologies.

Nevertheless Volkswagen also scored well with three Best In Class Euro NCAP winners.

The Arteon was awarded the Executive prize, the T-Roc scooped the Small Off-Roader, and the new Polo won the Supermini class.

Other best in class winners include Subaru’s new XV and Impreza, which shared honours in the Small Family Car category, while Opel’s Crossland X won the Small MPV class.

The two worst performing cars in 2017 were Ford’s Mustang and Fiat’s Punto hatch, which scored two and zero stars respectively.

The Mustang tested was based on a 2015 model, but Ford has added new safety features such as lane keeping and auto braking to units ordered after May 2017. This specification has yet to be crash tested.

Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general of Euro NCAP, said: “Congratulations to Volkswagen! To win best-in-class in three different categories is a great achievement and underlines the company’s commitment to providing the highest levels of safety to its customers.

“Subaru and Opel are also offering class-leading products while Volvo continues to underline its reputation for safety.

“More broadly, though, it is encouraging to see so many new cars performing so well in all areas of safety, and being equipped with greater and greater levels of life-saving technology.”