Despite being Ford’s most important family car in the UK, the Ford Puma didn't receive a perfect five-star score in Euro NCAP’s latest tests. Out of the 14 models tested, three cars – including the Puma – didn't achieve five stars.
The Ford Puma is now the US company's foremost model, based on UK sales. It marked the end of an era for UK car buyers when Ford announced back in October that it was discontinuing the Ford Fiesta from June 2023, following similar news for the Ford Focus, which will end production in 2025.
Both had been two of the top-selling UK cars for decades, with Ford now shifting focus to increasingly popular SUVs and electric cars.
The Ford Puma was the third best-selling UK car in the year to November, according to data from car body SMMT. So you’d probably expect it to be a dead-cert to ace Euro NCAP’s crash tests. We investigate below why it didn't.
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Why the Ford Puma (£23,076*) doesn’t get five stars
The Puma originally got a five-star result in 2019, under the safety body's previous test programme. As one of the most important cars on the market, Euro NCAP has retested the Ford Puma small SUV on its current, more stringent test programme, to see whether the Puma has kept pace with rivals for safety.
Now the vehicle is starting to show its age. For example, it scored four stars out of five for protecting adults in the car. While this is still a good result, it leaves the Puma behind rivals like the Toyota Yaris Cross (£23,240*). In 2021, Euro NCAP gave the Yaris Cross five stars out of five under the current test programme.
There's no doubt the Ford Puma continues to be considered safe to drive. Euro NCAP's four-star rating means the car offers overall good performance both in crash protection and across the board.
Euro NCAP rates protection on a scale: 'good', 'adequate', 'marginal', 'weak' or 'poor'. In its latest test of the Puma, it found four notable issues:
- In its front crash test into a barrier off to one side, the driver’s chest protection was rated ‘marginal’. Similarly, in its front crash test into a full-width rigid barrier, the rear passenger’s chest protection was rated ‘marginal’.
- In the event of an impact to the far side of the car, the Puma does not have centre airbags or another countermeasure to prevent occupants being at risk of injuries from being thrown across the car.
- In a rear-end collision, it found the front seats and head restraints only offered ‘marginal’ protection against whiplash injuries.
- The Puma also doesn’t have an advanced eCall system to alert emergency services in the event of an accident, but it does have a system to prevent secondary collisions.
However, the Ford Puma still scored well in all four of Euro NCAP’s assessment areas. It scored 75% for protecting adults and 84% for protecting children, as well as 70% for protecting vulnerable road users and 69% for its safety assistance systems, with no serious issues in these other areas.
The Ford Puma still has a good record for safety according to Euro NCAP, which will certainly be better than many older cars. Although if you’re looking for the safest car possible, it’s now pipped by other models. This includes those of a similar size like the Toyota Yaris Cross (£23,240*), Alfa Romeo Tonale (£39,995**), Honda Civic (£29,595*) and Volkswagen Golf (£24,184*).
Find out how the Ford Puma handles in our lab and road tests, and whether it's fuel efficient – see our full Ford Puma review.
Other cars crash tested by Euro NCAP
Skoda Octavia, £23,390* – 5 stars
Famous for promising masses of space, the Skoda Octavia large estate aims to be the practical choice for families. Euro NCAP has retested it following a facelift that brought in minor exterior styling changes.
Like Ford Puma, the Skoda Octavia was also originally tested by Euro NCAP in 2019. But in the case of the Skoda Octavia, it continues to excel in the latest, more stringent crash tests, with a perfect score of five stars out of five.
It scores 86% for protecting adults in the car and 84% for protecting children, 68% for protecting vulnerable road users such as cyclists and pedestrians, and a strong 81% score for its safety assistance systems, such as autonomous emergency braking – which can help achieve the ideal result of a lower-impact collision or no collision at all.
Find out whether the Skoda Octavia is just as good in all aspects, or if it has something to hide, in our comprehensive Skoda Octavia review.
Volkswagen Touran, £31,029* – 4 stars
Four stars out of five in Euro NCAP’s crash tests shows the Volkswagen Touran still puts up a good performance, despite getting on a bit now – it was originally launched in 2015.
It actually narrowly beats the Ford Puma for protecting adults in the car, although this is still the area that prevents the car from getting the full five stars.
- In its front crash into a barrier off to one side, Euro NCAP found protection of the driver’s chest and the femurs of the driver and front passenger were ‘marginal’
- In the event of far-side impacts, there is no centre airbag or other countermeasure to prevent injuries from people travelling across inside the car
- However, unlike the Ford Puma, the Touran does have an advanced eCall system which alerts the emergency services in the event of a crash.
Overall, the Touran scored 77% for protecting adults in the car and 81% for protecting children, 62% for protecting vulnerable road users, and 66% for its safety assistance technology.
This seems to be a car ageing gracefully – we give the definitive answer on what it's like to drive and own in our Volkswagen Touran review.
Land Rover Discovery Sport, £34,480** – 5 stars
Big cars do tend to make you feel safer, and evidence backs that up in the case of the Land Rover Discovery Sport, with Euro NCAP awarding the brand-new model a full five stars out of five.
It does particularly well for its safety assistance systems, scoring 85%, and has effective measures to hopefully help avoid any crash at all.
For protecting adults in the car it scores 84% and for children a strong 89%. Plus 71% for protecting vulnerable road users.
We haven’t reviewed the all-new version yet, but see it’s a great time to grab a bargain on the previous-generation model. Find out if it's for you in our Land Rover Discovery Sport review.
Lexus RX, £59,950** – 5 stars
The all-new Lexus RX luxury SUV can be bought as a self-charging or plug-in hybrid. It’s off to a stellar start from a safety standpoint, achieving the full five stars out of five in Euro NCAP’s tests.
In fact, it’s completely demolished them, with a dominant display across the board – 90% for protecting adults and 87% for children, 89% for protecting vulnerable road users, and an astonishing 91% for its safety assistance technology.
If safety is your priority, there’s no doubt the Lexus RX should be on your shortlist.
But are Lexus cars worth the money? We haven’t reviewed this latest version yet, but see if Lexus deserves a serious consideration in all areas by checking our previous-generation Lexus RX review.
Mercedes-Benz GLC, £45,240** – 5 stars
The brand-new Mercedes-Benz mid-size SUV beats even the Lexus RX for protecting adults (92% score) and children (90% score) in the car in Euro NCAP’s latest tests.
While not quite as strong, its 74% scores for protecting vulnerable road users and 84% scores for its safety assistance systems are still excellent results.
We haven’t reviewed the latest GLC yet, but see if it’s a name worth considering by heading to our previous-generation Mercedes-Benz GLC review.
Peugeot 408, £31,050** – 4 stars
The Peugeot 408 large estate is a new addition to Peugeot's family car range, blending SUV styling with a sweeping coupé roofline. It certainly looks striking, but unfortunately its Euro NCAP performance slightly tempers initial impressions.
It’s still a good record for safety, but it fails to achieve a full five stars out of five from Euro NCAP. The Peugeot 408 is very closely related to the 308 tested earlier in 2022 – Euro NCAP performed some additional tests on the 408, but since the cars are so similar many results are carried over from the 308.
Euro NCAP found weaknesses on the 408 in a range of areas, including protecting adults and children. It also said the car's autonomous emergency braking system, which aims to automatically apply the brakes in the event of an imminent collision, only performed ‘marginally’ in responding to other vehicles.
For children in the front, a collision into a barrier off to one side resulted in a 'marginal' rating for the protection of the neck of the 10-year-old dummy.
Protection of adults in the car raised a number of issues, with the most serious being ‘weak’ protection for the driver’s chest and ‘marginal’ protection for their lower leg when the car crashed into a front deformable barrier. Their chest also had ‘marginal’ protection in the full-width rigid frontal barrier test. Protection was ‘marginal’ for potential injuries from occupants moving across the car in the event of a far-side impact, as the car isn’t fitted with a centre airbag or other countermeasure.
Overall, the car scored 76% for protecting adults and 84% for protecting children, 78% for protecting vulnerable road users and 65% for its safety-assistance systems.
We’ll be getting the Peugeot 408 through our lab tests soon – in the meantime, see if Peugeot cars are worth checking out by heading to our Peugeot reviews.
More cars crash tested
Here’s the results for the rest of the cars crash tested in Euro NCAP’s latest results:
- MG 4 Electric – 5 stars
- Volkswagen ID. Buzz – 5 stars
- Volkswagen Amarok – 5 stars
- Ford Ranger – 5 stars
- Lucid Air – 5 stars
- Chery Omoda5 – 5 stars
- Maxus Mifa 9 – 5 stars
To check out all the cars we’ve reviewed, head to our new and used car reviews.
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*New prices based on what people pay (including discounts), sourced from 500 franchised dealers across the UK each month.
**For cars we haven’t reviewed yet, these are the On-The-Road prices from the manufacturer’s website, correct at time of publishing.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/why-doesnt-the-ford-puma-get-five-stars-in-the-latest-crash-tests-aIMx00C2saHT