2018 Volvo XC40 Marginally Beats 2018 Ford Focus in New Euro NCAP Crash Tests

In April, the Nissan Leaf became the first car to be tested under the new regulations, meaning measurements for cyclist detection, auto brake and a variety of crash scenarios involving cars and pedestrians were taken into account.

On Wednesday, the organization made public the results for two other cars following the crash test procedures: the 2018 Volvo XC40 and the 2018 Ford Focus.

At first glance, the two models are equal in terms of crash resistance and protection, as they both got a five-star overall rating, the highest possible from Euro NCAP. A closer look, however, does put the Swedish SUV in front of the American hatch, at least in one respect.

Both cars were tested based on their performance in four main areas: adult occupant protection for driver and passenger, child occupant protection, vulnerable road users protection and safety assist.

In the adult occupant category, Volvo was near perfection, scoring 97 percent, while the Focus was rated at only 83 percent. That's weaker even than the Leaf (93 percent).

Child occupant protection is virtually the same in all three models tested so far this year, 87 percent (86 percent for the Leaf). The same can be said about vulnerable road users protection (Ford 72 percent, Leaf and XC40 71 percent each). Safety assist in the Volvo is a touch higher than in the Focus, 76 vs. 75 percent.

“The new XC40 is one of the safest cars on the market,” said in a statement Malin Ekholm, head of Volvo Cars Safety Centre.

“It comes standard with the largest offering of safety technology of any small SUVs, helping drivers detect and avoid collisions, remain safely in their lane and reduce the impact of accidentally running off the road.”

Below are the videos of the two cars being crash tested.