China’s Qoros 3 Sedan Scores 5-Star Safety Rating in Europe

In a milestone event, a Chinese vehicle for the first time wins the top 5-star safety rating in the European New Car Assessment Program.

The Qoros 3 sedan is the first international brand headquartered in China to be awarded five stars by Euro NCAP.

The car, which is the first vehicle to be produced by a50-50 joint venture between China’s Chery and the Israel Corp. investment group, debuted at this year’s Geneva auto show. It is being built at a new plant in Changshu, China.

The auto maker says the sedan is the first of an all-new range of models being designed and engineered by an international team, with a significant portion of the Qoros 3 designed and engineered by Magna Steyr in Europe.

Euro NCAP gives the Qoros a 95% rating for adult occupant safety, 87% for child occupant safety, 77% for pedestrian safety and 81% for safety-assistance systems, for an overall 88% result and five stars.

Euro NCAP says the family car provides good overall protection, with high scores in all four areas of assessment, and is a significant step up from previous Chinese exports it has crash-tested.

“It is pleasing to see that a new manufacturer (such as) Qoros should place a high emphasis on safety and perform well in our tests,” Euro NCAP Secretary General Michiel van Ratingen says in a statement.

“Manufacturers know that consumers are used to the highest levels of protection and that new cars will be scrutinized if they are put on sale in Europe.”

Qoros Vehicle Integration Executive Director Roger Malkusson says the safety team is made up of experts from many different countries, “and our efforts have been focused on delivering a thoroughly well-engineered car that achieved maximum safety scores.”

The Qoros 3 sedan’s passenger cell proving to be extremely robust in front-end, side impact and pole impact collisions, Euro NCAP says.

The body and structure of the car is designed to minimize the exposure of passengers to risks in the event of collisions, with the forces on the vehicle diverted along predefined load paths and absorbed by generously sized deformation zones.