NCAP (New Car Assessment Program)

NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), the manufacturer-independent car safety performance assessment program, is considered to be one of the most influential programs to assess the safety of new vehicles. There are a variety of NCAP test procedures differing partly in the sequence and the number of the tests carried out, e.g. Euro NCAP or US NCAP. NCAP publishes safety reports on new cars, and awards 'star ratings' based on the performance of the vehicles in a variety of crash tests. The maximum number awarded is five stars.

Euro NCAP – new rating scheme for 2009
Euro NCAP's new rating scheme will be composed from scores achieved in four areas of assessment Adult Occupant, Child Occupant, Pedestrian Protection and a new area: Safety Assist. Safety Assist will allow Euro NCAP to consider driver assistance systems and active safety technologies, which play an increasingly important role in accident avoidance and injury mitigation.

Under the new scoring system, vehicles will need to do well in each area of assessment to achieve a good overall result. In particular, it will be impossible for a carmaker to achieve five stars in the tested vehicle without the standard fitment of the Electronic Stability Program (ESP®) in the majority of variants sold. Statistics reveal that ESP® plays such a major role in reducing deaths on our roads, Euro NCAP believes no car should be able to achieve five stars without it.