Euro NCAP analysis generally praised, but pointed out a perceived shortcoming.

THE next Mazda set for New Zealand introduction, also the marque’s first fully electric car, has just undergone an important validation – securing a respectable crash test score.

The MX-30’s performance in tests run by Euro NCAP, the sister organisation to the Australiasian New Car Assessment Programme part-funded by NZ tax payers, was good enough to secure a maximum five-star rating, with praise for its impressive front-end safety structure and far-side restraints.

Those systems helped it achieve a 91 percent score for adult occupant protection and 87 percent for child occupant protection.

It also achieved 68 and 73 percent for the Pedestrian and Safety Assist respectively.

However, the car’s collision avoidance capabilities didn’t impress as much.

The EV scored 73 percent for its safety assistance systems and 68 percent for vulnerable road users collision avoidance capabilities.

Euro NCAP described the latter score as a “mediocre test performance”, noting the car lacks “more advanced functionalities, such as turn-across-path intervention.”

What also requires consideration, though, is that the test ramped up this year to become tougher than ever.

Michael van Ratingen, the secretary general of Euro NCAP, said the latest five-star ratings demonstrate that the 2020 protocols are “having a tangible impact on the safety equipment and crash performance of car models in Europe, including the latest electrified vehicles.”