Renault was once synonymous with safety. In fact, in the 2001 Euro NCAP ranking, the Renault Laguna was the first car to receive the maximum five-star rating.
However, time has passed and strategies change. Also for Renault.
That’s right, the French automaker took a hit on Wednesday for its electric model Zoe, as the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) gave it the worst possible safety rating – zero stars for regulatory compliance for Europe.
It is not a minor data since the Zoe is the third best-selling electric vehicle in the Old Continent, only behind the Tesla Model 3, which leads the list, and the Volkswagen ID.3, the second.
The data is from 2021, until October.
Renault, which is cutting costs and working on a restructuring amid an ambitious global expansion, also received a poor rating (one star) for its electric model. low cost Dacia Spring.
The communiqué of the Euro NCAP it is lapidary. He says “Renault was once synonymous with safety” but now the results are “disappointing” for the Zoe and Dacia Spring. He talks about safety being “collateral damage” in the French group’s transition to electric cars.
Renault’s response
Renault responded by saying that the Zoe is a “safe vehicle” that meets “all regulatory safety standards.”
He argued that “standards are increasingly stringent” and that the brand “is continually improving to comply with regulations where vehicles are sold.”
It should be noted that the Euro NCAP qualifications are not binding, which means that they do not need that certification to be sold. However, European consumers pay a lot of attention to such tests and car manufacturers use the good marks in their marketing strategies.
This is the third time in history that Euro NCAP has given a vehicle a zero-star rating and could pressure Renault to speed up the launch of a new version of the car.
One of the Zoe’s weakest points, according to Euro NCAP, is the side airbags.
On this ranking list, 11 cars received Euro NCAP notes for 2021, which did not include Tesla models.
Several vehicles received five-star ratings, including BMW’s electric iX, Daimler’s electric Mercedes Benz EQS, Nissan’s Qashqai, and Volkswagen’s VW Caddy.