Renault-owned budget brand Dacia’s poor safety record has again been highlighted in the latest round of crash tests conducted by Euro NCAP.
Dacia’s new seven-seat Jogger was given a paltry one-star rating in the tests, which also saw new cars from Honda and DS Automobiles score four stars.
The Jogger’s result came on top of ratings of just two stars awarded in April 2021 to the Dacia Sandero and Sandero Stepway models (and the Logan, which is basically a saloon version of the Sandero and not sold in the UK). Then the electric Dacia Spring SUV (also not currently sold here) was given one star in December.
As the Jogger is essentially a larger version of the Sandero Stepway, Euro NCAP says it used the Sandero Stepway’s 2021 crash test results to assess the safety of the Jogger.
The lack of a seatbelt reminder light for third-row occupants in seven-seat versions, and the side-curtain airbags not extending back far enough to protect those in the third row, dropped the car’s rating to one star – revealing that the Sandero Stepway had only just scraped a two-star rating in its test.
Matthew Avery, chief research strategy officer at Euro NCAP’s UK testing centre Thatcham Research, described the Dacia Jogger’s results as disappointing for a family car. “The vehicle may be more affordable than others in the same category, but in terms of safety it appears that you do get what you pay for,” he said.
“In this case, not only is the Dacia Jogger lacking the active safety features that buyers expect as standard, but even some of its basic passive safety features are not up to the industry standard set by the vast majority of carmakers,” Avery added.
The other two latest tests resulted in four-star ratings for the DS 4 hatch and the Honda HR-V crossover. Testers commented that the hybrid-only Honda showed “good all-round performance” in its safety but its restraint scores, particularly for children in the rear seats, were not as robust as rivals, preventing a top five-star rating.
The DS 4 earned praise for its active bonnet to protect pedestrians and centre airbag between the driver and front-seat passenger. But testers were less impressed by the standard-fit autonomous emergency braking, which uses only a camera and not radar. A ‘Safety Pack Plus’ adds the radar sensor and boosts the safety rating to five stars, but this is only available as an extra cost option on entry-level models.
- Dacia Jogger (2022 onwards) – Expert Rating
- DS 4 (2022 onwards) – Expert Rating
- Honda HR-V (2021 onwards) – Expert Rating
- More car industry news from The Car Expert
