Volvo City Safety Receives Euro NCAP Advanced Safety Rating

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – October 4, 2010: Volvo's City Safety active braking system has received a Euro NCAP Advance rating, an assessment rating for new and exceptional safety technology, awarded at the Paris Motor Show.

"Highly gratifying. We have worked long and hard for active safety systems to be included in Euro NCAP's assessment criteria," says Thomas Broberg, senior safety advisor at Volvo Cars.

A step in the right direction
Volvo Cars has previously lobbied for Euro NCAP to take account of active safety systems in its overall assessment of car models.

"Euro NCAP Advance is without doubt a step in the right direction and an excellent complement to the physical crash tests," says Thomas Broberg, who received the award at Paris Motor show.

Automatic braking
Volvo City Safety was presented in 2008 as standard on the Volvo XC60. At speeds below 30 km/h, this system automatically brakes the car if the driver is distracted and fails to react when the vehicle in front suddenly stops or slows down. Low-speed rear-end impacts account for more than 50 percent of all collisions. At speeds below 15 km/h Volvo City Safety can entirely avoid an impact, and between 15 and 30 km/h the system significantly reduces the car's speed and thus also reduces the consequences of an accident.

Volvo City Safety has received widespread attention and secured a number of awards, including the Paul Pietsch Award from German motoring magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Best Safety Choice from Spanish safety institute Centro Zaragoza and the USA's Traffic Safety Achievement Award.

At the Paris Motor Show on October 1, the Euro NCAP Advance rating was awarded for the very first time. This is a complement to Euro NCAP's current assessment system in which car models are tested in a variety of situations and then rated for safety with up to five stars. The method used for assessment in Euro NCAP Advance is based on scientific data provided by the car manufacturers which is then analysed by a panel of experts appointed by Euro NCAP. Only safety systems available on car models that have already undergone the original test are eligible for the award.

The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a European car safety performance assessment programme founded in 1997. Euro NCAP publishes safety reports on new cars, and awards 'star ratings' based on the performance of the vehicles in a variety of crash tests.