All-New Ford B-MAX Achieves Maximum 5-Star Euro NCAP Safety Rating

COLOGNE, GERMANY- August 29, 2012: All-new Ford B-MAX has been awarded the highest possible five-star safety rating by independent crash test authority Euro NCAP.

The B-MAX compact multi-activity vehicle achieved an overall protection score of 83 percent after scoring 93 percent for adult protection and 84 percent for child protection.

“Safety is a fundamental Ford value and we are delighted to achieve the maximum five-star rating from Euro NCAP,” said Tom Overington, safety project manager, Ford of Europe. “The team has worked very hard on making sure B-MAX meets the safety standards our customers expect from every Ford vehicle.”

Ford subjected B-MAX to more than 5,000 computer simulated crash tests during development, no less than 40 complete crash tests and a further 100 tests which involved the car being mounted on a sled and fired into a barrier.

High strength and ultra-high strength steels form more than 58 percent of the B-MAX body and are used in brackets, called crash-catchers; these lock the ingenious Ford Easy Access Door System in place if the vehicle suffers a side-impact.

B-MAX is equipped with seven airbags and the front-end is carefully engineered for optimised pedestrian protection. It also features Ford’s Active City Stop system – a segment-first designed to help motorists avoid low speed collisions with stationary or slower moving traffic in front.

Better connected than any vehicle in its class, B-MAX features Ford’s voice-activated, in-car connectivity system, SYNC, with Emergency Assistance, designed to assist the occupants to call for help in the event of a crash.

“Only vehicles offering all-round protection can be awarded a five-star rating under Euro NCAP’s new test protocol,” said Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP secretary general. “Ford B-MAX is a great example of how this can be achieved by an innovative design, outstanding system engineering and smart technologies such as Active City Stop.”