2017 Mustang receives 2 stars in Euro NCAP tests

Ford started making the Mustang in the right hand drive guise recently and since then it has been launched in several European countries, as well as India. Indian cars have been put under the knife by Euro NCAP and have received dismal ratings but the Mustang has been a disappointment too. Having received a two star rating, the pony car is the first product by a large car manufacturer since 2008 to receive such a low rating.

During the frontal-offset-crash test, the fastback received a 72 per cent score, which is equivalent to a four star rating. Even the pedestrian tests resulted in a five-star rating. It was the safety assistance systems (32 per cent) and child occupant protection tests where the Mustang tanked big time with a score of just 32 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively. The muscle car lacks basic safety features such as emergency braking system, active cruise control and steering assisted lane control system, reducing its score further down. It was also noticed that the heads of the driver as well as the passenger hit the dashboard during the crash tests. The rear seatbelts lack pre tensioners, allowing for the passengers to slip under seatbelts during frontal impact. Even the airbags failed to inflate sufficiently for maximum protection.

Euro NCAP’s Secretary General, Michiel van Ratingen, said, “Ford did not expect Euro NCAP to test the Mustang and chose not to fit safety technology in Europe which is available to its American consumers, and available on several other sports cars for that matter.  Such an attitude to safety should trouble Ford’s customers, whether they are buying a high-powered muscle car or a regular family car.”

Ford has already revealed the 2018 Mustang that comes with Lane Keep Assist and Pre-collision assist, so the results could change for the upgraded car. But Euro NCAP says that the Mustang needs to be changed structurally to pass with flying colours and thus expects the American carmaker to spend heavily on the safety aspect of the Mustang’s future generations.