Euro NCAP's Five Safest Cars for 2009...Are Seven

The European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) released today the list of top five safest cars of 2009, a list which actually comprises seven cars. The cars entered the top based on their five star award and overall score.

“This is the first time we can calculate results that demonstrate an overall safety performance. Even though these cars excel in different areas of safety, their presence in the top-five list indicates that they are among the top safety achievers of the year,” Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP said in a release.

The number one on Euro NCAP's list is the Volkswagen Golf VI, tested both under the old rating scheme in 2008 and under the new one in 2009. The Golf is followed by the two Japanese hybrid antagonists, the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius.

The Hyundai i20 ranked fourth in the top, followed by three vehicles, all crammed onto the fifth position: the Toyota Avensis, the Volvo XC60 and the Opel/Vauxhall Astra.

Additionally, the organization also announced that for 2010, a car needs to increase the threshold in Adult Occupant Protection and Child Occupant Protection to achieve a five star rating (from 75 to 80 percent and from 70 to 75 percent, respectively).

According to Euro NCAP, the first results for vehicles tested under this stricter assessment will be released on March 3. Until then, in the PDF attached below you can find all the cars tested and upgraded last year by Euro NCAP, together with the results they achieved.