Ford and VW stand out in latest Euro NCAP van tests

Euro NCAP has published the latest safety results for commercial vans, highlighting significant progress in safety technologies across the segment.

This release’s standout performers include the Ford Transit and the Volkswagen Transporter, both achieving the ‘Platinum’ award, with a 95 per cent and 96 per cent safety assist performance rating, respectively.

Other models, including the Fiat Scudo, Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert, and the Opel Vivaro, demonstrated strong performances with a ‘Gold’ award. The Geely-owned Farizon SV, which is expected in Europe this year, also claimed a Platinum rating.

Euro NCAP has been providing commercial van safety ratings since 2021, with the goal of providing up-to-date information for fleet managers and a safer environment for van drivers. These stand-alone ratings issued for light commercial vans, focus on the availability and performance of advanced driver assist systems (ADAS).

Light commercial vans are vehicles designed to carry goods or specialised equipment and which weigh no more than 3.5-tonnes gross vehicle mass. Their economic life span and total kilometres travelled usually exceed those of average passenger cars.

While commercial vans do not necessarily have a higher crash rate than other motor vehicles, crashes involving vans tend to be more severe for their opponent vehicles. According to the European Commission, casualties comprise around four per cent of total fatal or seriously injured vehicle occupant casualties. A large percentage of these are due to loss of control, in head-on and rear-end crashes. While ADAS technology can help effectively prevent or mitigate the consequences of these crashes, commercial vans are often not adequately equipped.

Each year, the fitment of each system on each van available on the market is confirmed with the vehicle manufacturer and data are consolidated by Euro NCAP. The availability (standard, optional or not available) is presented in a graphical format with a corresponding table for each van, system and market respectively on the website.

Available ADAS systems (whether optional or standard) on each commercial van are tested using Euro NCAP Safety Assist protocols, adapted to commercial vans where needed. Each van is carrying half of its permissible loading mass, a typical load for a commercial van in daily use. In addition to ADAS, a Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) check is carried out for each van.

The test scores of each system are weighted and combined into an overall score for each van. This weighted overall performance score places each van tested in one of the following categories: Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Not Recommended.

The original test and assessment protocols were updated in 2023 to reflect the positive progress in the market since 2021. Euro NCAP updates commercial van ADAS ratings every year, based on the latest protocols and the most recent models and equipment offered by vehicle manufacturers.