ANCAP Safety has issued a four-star safety rating for the new Citroen C4, saying performance fell short in three of the four key areas of assessment.
The vehicle, released in Australia in December, achieved scores of 76 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection, 81 per cent for Child Occupant Protection, 57 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection and 62 per cent for Safety Assist.
ANCAP said Child Occupant Protection was the only assessment area in which C4 managed to achieve a five-star rating.
“Unfortunately, the Citroen C4’s scores fell short in three of our four key areas of assessment meaning it was unable to meet the five-star safety standard consumers and fleets have come to expect,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg.
“Twenty-one of the 23 new models rated by ANCAP to our current 2020-2022 criteria have achieved five-star ANCAP safety ratings, and this highlights the great work vehicle manufacturers are doing to provide their customers with the safest vehicles they can.”
According to Hoorweg, achieving the highest level of safety in ANCAP assessments is not simple, but the star rating results so far suggest that the majority of brands aspire to supply the safest vehicles possible.”
“The safety performance of the C4 suggests the same level of ambition shown by many of its competitors was not a focus for Citroen with this particular model,” she said.
“It is likely that with some small enhancements, Citroen could see the C4 elevated to five stars, and we would strongly encourage Citroen to consider introducing such improvements.”
ANCAP said a limitation of the C4 is its lack of far-side impact protection, which has been required by ANCAP protocols since 2020. Typically, this is offered in the form of a centre airbag in small cars like the C4, but without this feature or another appropriate design countermeasure, the Citroen scored just 0.12 points out of 4.00 points in this area of assessment.