Euro NCAP has recognised the top performers of last year and the winners of the 2021 Best in Class awards following testing of 33 new cars, of which 22 achieved the top five-star rating.
Among the successes, the Mercedes-Benz EQS emerged as best in the executive car and pure electric categories, narrowly beating the Polestar 2. In the small off-road category, the Nissan Qashqai won with “outstanding performance” in active safety. The award in the large-off road category went to Skoda’s first all-electric SUV, the Enyaq iV, while the Toyota Yaris Cross took the top spot in the small MPV category and the Skoda Fabia was the best small family car.
“2021 was a tough year for the car industry – a shortage of parts, semiconductors in particular, was the sting in the tail of the COVID crisis, affecting development timelines, production and sales,” said Euro NCAP Secretary General Dr Michiel van Ratingen.
“Still, we saw quite a number of new car models coming to the market, many of them electric or hybrid, and many of them achieving five-star ratings despite the demanding requirements. Well done to the winners as well as to the runners-up, some of which were very close contenders for the top slot in their respective categories.”
Euro NCAP said the Best-in-Class award is given to cars which perform best overall in categories with at least three entrants that year. Winners must also have achieved a five-star rating.