Safety and crash-testing body Euro NCAP has rounded off 2019 by publishing the results of ten more vehicles - and while it's good news for six of the group, which all picked up the maximum five stars, it's not so good for fans of the Volkswagen up!, SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo, as all three have been downgraded from their previous five-star ratings to a rather more mediocre (and worrying) three-star award.
AEB removal the cause
Ignoring the tenth car of the group, the all-electric Aiways U5 from China (which also picked up a three-star award but which is unlikely to be sold here), it's time to focus on the VW Group's trio of city cars.
Having been tested in 2011 and picked up the full award from Euro NCAP, the retest comes about as the cars shift to all electric power, although a facelifted version of the up! with petrol power will be sold in 2020. It seems the removal of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) from the kit list of these three is responsible in the main for the downgrading, although Volkswagen counters by saying Lane Keeping Assist is now standard on the up! (and, by extension, the other two group products as well).
The up!'s poor showing comes just a month after the Volkswagen Sharan garnered a four-star rating after one of its doors came off during crash-testing. Volkswagen say there is no real-world data to show this has ever happened on a Sharan owned by a customer, although - worryingly - the Golf Mk8, which picked up a five-star rating in this round of testing regardless, also had one of its doors open during a side-impact crash test.
The Golf was saved by its high number of standard-fit active safety systems, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) comms capability and strong crash performance in other areas, but Michiel van Ratingen, the secretary general of Euro NCAP, said: "Door openings during crash are penalised in Euro NCAP since the start, as they represent a critical ejection risk to occupants. Door openings are rare nowadays and it is important that VW is committed to finding the root cause."
Five stars for Puma
In more positive news, all of the Ford Puma, the Nissan Juke and the Audi Q8 garnered the top five-star rating, while the MG ZS EV and MG HS also scored the maximum for safety. Van Ratingen added: "Ford has revisited the Puma name for its all-new supermini. The small car has performed very well, scoring high marks in all four categories of tests. With five stars under its belt, the Puma has entered the market as one of the safest choices in the lower-price segment."