New Citroën C3 fails miserably during NCAP crash tests

Introduced last year for emerging markets, the brand new Citroën C3 has undergone extensive safety testing by Latin NCAP – the Central and South American branch of Global NCAP. After banging the car several times, it has certainly not produced a good result. The Citroën C3 does not rake in any of the maximum possible five NCAP stars.

Citroen C3

First of all: this is not about the Citroën C3 as it is sold in Europe, nor about the new C3 developed for the European market as it will be presented later this year. The C3, as it has been subjected to safety tests by the Latin NCAP, is the model presented last year in India and now also unveiled in Brazil, which is mainly intended for growth markets. There is also a fully electric version available. In any case, Latin NCAP was far from satisfied. On the scorecard we see the Citroën in the field of safety for adult occupants only managed to rake in 31 percent of the points. The safety of children in the car was rated with a poor 12 percent of the possible points. As far as pedestrian safety is concerned, the C3 scores the best, although a result of 50 percent of the maximum points is not something to write home about either. In terms of active and passive safety systems, the compact Citroën gets 35 percent of the points.

Citroen C3

Latin NCAP says the Citroën C3’s base is “unstable” and speaks of poor occupant protection in a frontal crash. According to the Latin NCAP, the driver and co-driver in particular run the risk of chest injuries due to the lack of seat belt pretensioners. Also, the foot compartment would not be strong enough. In addition, the Latin NCAP is critical of the fact that the C3 has no side airbags and also does not report if you do not have your seat belt on. Two airbags and stabilization control are also standard, so also on the tested C3s.

Latin NCAP president Stephan Brodziak says Stellantis “[…] should be ashamed” because the company is very good at making “safer cars at an affordable price”. Brodziak mentions a car like the Citroën C3 “[…] an affront to the health and safety of residents of South and Central America”. Brodziak urges Stellantis to cease production of cars that pose a safety risk to its occupants. Peugeot 208 and Fiat produced for the local market Argo and Cronos previously took only two and no stars in the Latin NCAP crash tests in a row. The Jeep Renegade raked in one star and Ram’s 700 only got one star. Stellantis isn’t the only company with the Latin NCAP underperforming cars, for example the Toyota Yaris got one star, the Suzuki Swift and Baleno as well as the Dacia Duster, Kia Picanto and a whole bunch of Hyundais (Accent, HB20) and the Ford Ka+ none.