Mercedes Benz A-Class: Five-star Euro NCAP performance

The Mercedes-Benz A-Class has scored the best result in its class for the European NCAP standard (New Car Assessment Programme) and has been awarded five stars. The A-Class also excelled in child protection achieving an outstanding four-star rating.

With this excellent result, the patented sandwich-floor safety concept of the Mercedes Benz A-Class has now also proved its effectiveness in this rating test. In a severe frontal impact, this design causes the engine and transmission to slide downwards and out of the way, rather than being pushed into the car's interior. This means that a larger front crumple zone is available than on other cars in its category. In addition, the sandwich design is also advantageous in the event of a side impact because the occupants sit higher up than in a conventional compact car.

The occupant safety package is rounded off by adaptive front airbags which deploy in two stages, depending on the severity of the accident, plus newly developed head/thorax bags. The latter help to protect both the head and upper torso of those in the front seats in the event of a lateral collision. A belt status indicator in the instrument cluster tells the driver if the occupants are wearing their seatbelts or not.

The exemplary levels of safety in the Mercedes Benz A-Class are derived from analyses of real-life accidents. The Mercedes approach defines vehicle safety as an all-encompassing task that covers everything from accident prevention by means of electronic support systems such as ESP® and Brake Assist, through to occupant protection tailored to the severity of the actual accident itself, and on to the fastest possible rescue of the people in the car after a collision has happened.

The A-Class not only has significant occupant protection but thanks to electronic safety systems, it is involved in fewer road traffic accidents.

Detailed analysis of over 1.5-million accidents in 2002 reveals a direct link between ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) and the reduction in accidents. Since the introduction of ESP across the entire range, accidents involving Mercedes-Benz have fallen by a massive 30 per cent.