Euro NCAP: New Hyundai i10 Only Gets 4-Star Rating

Following a series of crash tests, the independent European safety body only awarded the car a 4-star rating. Thus, Hyundai misses out on the maximum score, which might or might not affect its image. The smallest car sold by the Korean company received a score of 79% for adult occupant protection, 80% for child safety, 71% for pedestrian safety and 56% for its safety assist systems.

The i10 was let down by whiplash protection and protection of the chest in the side-impact pole test. Basically, there's a higher risk or neck injury if you're rear-ended in a new i10, while the side bolstering hidden in the door could be a little stronger.

As for the rest of the i10's results, they aren't really that bad. 80% adult occupant protection is actually pretty good, while the low score in the safety assist category is typical for short, boxy cars like this one. Speaking of which, we need to take a loot at the competition for the sake of potential future city car buyers.

Three small cars from the VW Group – the VW Up, Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii – all received the maximum 5-star score from Euro NCAP, but that was in 2011, before the regulations were changed. The i10's 4-star rating is actually on par with the Opel/Vauxhall Adam and the Mitsubishi Mirage, both of which were tested in 2013.

For the sake of comparison, we've also included a video of the 2008 model undergoing much less severe tests to show you that Hyundai has built a safer car, despite what the crash result scores show.