Euro NCAP test on Chrysler Neon

[Josh Farron]

Hi all,

We are very seriously considering replacing our Renault Scenic with a new
Chrysler Neon. (We live in South Africa.) This car has, thusfar, impressed
me in every aspect except safety. The problem is that I cannot get
information on European NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) tests for this
car. This is strange since I was under the impression that all cars sold in
the EU had to be tested. I have checked at the NCAP website
(www.euroncap.com), many of Chrysler's websites and have even done a Google
search. I would be appreciative if someone could enlighten me as to why this
car has not been tested - or how it did, if it has been tested. I would also
be interested to hear of result from any other 3rd party car assessment
program.

Thank You
- J Farron

 

[Daniel J. Stern]

We are very seriously considering replacing our Renault Scenic with a new
Chrysler Neon. (We live in South Africa.) This car has, thusfar, impressed
me in every aspect except safety. The problem is that I cannot get
information on European NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) tests for this
car. This is strange since I was under the impression that all cars sold in
the EU had to be tested.

The crash tests vehicles must undergo for ECE Type Approval -- which all
vehicle designs must undergo in order to be approved for sale -- are not
the same as the NCAP tests, which are aimed primarily at assessing the
degree to which the mandatory safety standards are causing manufacturers
to design safe vehicles and at informing consumers.

I have checked at the NCAP website (www.euroncap.com), many of
Chrysler's websites and have even done a Google search. I would be
appreciative if someone could enlighten me as to why this car has not
been tested - or how it did, if it has been tested. I would also be
interested to hear of result from any other 3rd party car assessment
program.

The US DOT's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards are different to the
ECE crash standards used outside North America, and of course cars in
North America are Left Hand Drive rather than the RHD cars you'd be
looking at in South Africa. Nevertheless, American-design cars sold abroad
generally tend to retain most or all of their North American
crashworthiness engineering, with modifications to comply with
rest-of-world standards being largely confined to equipment changes
(lighting, glass, mirrors, seatbelts, controls and displays, etc.).

USDOT runs an NCAP programme, and you may search by make, model and year
here: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/NCAP/Search.cfm Leave the year blank,
select "Dodge" for the make and "Neon" for the model. Looks like it does
well.

DS

 

[Josh Farron]

Thank you. The US NCAPs will suffice. It does seem to have done well (I
compaired its results to other cars for which I know the Euro NCAP results).

 

[Dori Schmetterling]

Yes, EuroNCAP is not mandatory, though is widely used and respected (in
Europe, anyway). Maybe Neon sales in Europe are not great enough for
sponsoring organisations to have made the effort (and investment) to
test-crash them.

It was a Renault that was the first to gain 5 stars in the revised test, but
I can't remember which model it was.

DAS