General Panda gets 0* in Euro NCAP!

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General Panda gets 0* in Euro NCAP!

gar074

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Bit of a shocker, this. Lowest score ever recorded, apparently (apart from the Punto last year).

The Cross got 3* in 2015, so presumably the requirements have been tightened up even further since then?

Personally, I'm not bothered by the lack of safety aids (autonomous braking etc) but the low scores for structural deformation show how far the game has moved on since this generation of Panda was designed.

Fiat only have themselves to blame for not investing in a process of continually improving their current ranges (a host of special editions doesn't count) and for leaving it too long between major model updates.

Presumably the 500 will get 0* too, when they finally get around to retesting that? It will be interesting to see the impact such a result will have on the sales of Fiat's cash cow.

Meanwhile, will Fiat respond to this by withdrawing the Panda from sale earlier than they'd planned to? The low score for the Punto proved to be the coup de grace for that model...
 
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Mild concern here, but not going over top. I wouldn't worry that much about driving a 6 year old car and it's scores are reasonable compared to other cars of that era.

The biggest concern seems to be for young occupants around 10 year old and 6 year old. If I was carrying children regularly then it would be more worrying for me personally. One test showed risk of head to head contact (10 year olds) in side impact and I wonder how much the narrowness of the car effects this - something I really like about the Panda.

Fiat should fit the autonomous breaking option as standard straight away, and it can't be that difficult to make seat-belt warnings conform to standards.

In terms of avoiding accidents in the first place I think the Panda fares well. More accidents occur in poor conditions, and as a 4x4 owner it is exceptionally sure footed when the weather is at it's most treacherous.
 
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No Concern here.
I hate all those electronic gimmick's.
FIAT could have upgraded in 2017 or so, the Panda to a Panda Evo and make certain all the necessary gimmick's where in place to get a decent EuroNCAP score.
I think this will be the nail in the coffin of the Panda succes.
No mother will buy the Panda, to commute her children from home to school and back with it.

I wonder if, for example a FIAT Argo will do much better in a EuroNCAP test.
 
What has actually changed in the offset test? When they retested a Punto last year, its injury risks remained unchanged, yet when they've retested a Panda, all of a sudden, the injury risks have gone through the roof!!
 
The side impact resistance seems to be the main structural issue, as the test car appears to have withstood the front impact well. That, coupled with its narrowness, looks to be the cause of the "kiddie headbanging" issue.

I fear the 0* rating will be the kiss of death for the Panda for many potential owners, especially those with small kids (there have been lots of ill-informed "Panda=death trap" comments today on social media). How ironic if, instead, people were to go for an older, bigger car, which, measured against contemporary standards, would probably fare no better.

My Cross, of course, is still officially 3*. That shows how nonsensical the way this data is reported is.
 
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It is interesting isn't it. the standards have been raised, so in fact, all makes and models of cars previously gaining a higher score will now rate lower – but the press and social media don't see this. (I think because Panda is a big seller, esp in Europe, this has focused attention on it getting such a low score ).

The Cross does better? But the Cross is the same car, the same body shell, the same (basic) parts. What's different is that it has more 'options' fitted as standard, such as speed beep alarm, and can be had with extra options not available on lower-spec models, such as 'city brake' (autonomous brake assist) etc. So can the Lounge version. The car tested was the lower-spec'd 'Easy' version.

No Panda has ever had 'lane deviation detection' - not an issue up to now, but now, by not being fitted, it looses points which reduces its score. And not having IsoFix fittings on the front passenger seat or an alternative to IsoFix in the rear... again, the car hasn't changed, but the test now penalises for the kit inside not being 'the latest' available.
 
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Not worried one bit. My car has lost stars due to not having modern crap like auto brake and Lane warnings. Pffft.

They should spend more money teaching and enforcing better driving standards rather than compensate for bad drivers by the way of gadgets.
 
Of course the cars are tested for crash resistance and safety but these days drivers rely too much on these "additions". Driver skill has dropped alarmingly due to reliance on electronics. Perhaps drivers should be more aware of their surroundings and drive appropriately, stop looking at phones, sat navs and the other distractions on the vast majority of modern vehicles.
 
(I think because Panda is a big seller, esp in Europe, this has focused attention on it getting such a low score -- doubt its the only one).

I was thinking this when I read the news, though my view is a little different.

It's Italy's best seller and has been for a few years and they seem to think about safety rather differently.
They tend to think putting on a seat belt is an admission they can't drive properly!
So I don't think these test results will make any difference in sales there.


I think the model will drag on a while yet, perhaps with a few bolt on safety updates, then something based on one of their worldwide SUSW platform will appear with a Panda badge on.

(think it's already underway and is called Project 170 and based on the same SUSW platform as Project 322, the new 500).
 
The Cross does better? But the Cross is the same car, the same body shell, the same (basic) parts.

Exactly. But EuroNCAP considers it a diffeent car, which, as tested in 2015, got 3*. No doubt when they get around to retesting the Cross, it will also get 0*. But in the meantime, my Cross is officially safer than a basic Panda. :D

Ludicrous, isn't it?

But on a serious note, these higher standards haven't suddenly appeared out of the blue. FCA's failure to react to them in a timely manner is, sadly, typical of the brand. For example, how on earth can they have allowed the new Jeep Wrangler (ranked 1*) to go to market, when the opposition is consistently 5*?

Whoever is in charge of safety at FCA needs the bum's rush.
 
Just saw this.

The movement inside the car and the neck movement scares me to be honest. But does any car in this city car class do any better?

I saw a Volvo S90, apparently the best performing car ever tested, not look too impressive with the side crash test (obviously it did better than the Panda, but still a broken shoulder surely). My view is if another car hits you from the side at even 40mph you’ll probably wish you were dead to be honest - in any car.

And also, what I tell myself about my current Panda, is that if you were in a luxury Range Rover - huge car - and got driven into by an articulated lorry at speed you’d stand just as little a chance.

I am a bit disappointed that Fiat doesn’t seem to care. And as always , concerned that the German brands are behind this shaming of anything else that threatens them. Particularly as the Panda is a much better seller in mainland Europe than here in the U.K.

Though maybe it’ll force them to make the necessary improvements to their cars and reputation properly.

Trust me, nobody I know in person would consider driving a Panda due to how it looks. I get ridiculed all the time not just for driving one, but for enjoying it! And even more for saying I want to buy the new model! So this is more than a nail in the coffin I think for the Panda in the UK market. Sadly.

All Fiat has to do now is artificially ramp up its prices and cite Br***t and it’ll have truly lost the Uk market. And me for Japanese rivals.

To me, nothing else is quite as appealing as a Panda for my next car. I like that I can get a 4 year old one for £3,800 should I have to. I like how it drives. But the safety aspect has always been a hard one to ignore.

Look forward to more people putting their opinions into this.
 
I saw a Volvo S90, apparently the best performing car ever tested

Count to ten, spin around three times and look again.
By then this will also be 0*.

As the tests move on and safety devices evolve, all older models will lag behind.
This model Panda broke cover in Sept 2011, so it's over 7 years old and nearing the end of it's life. (truth be told, it's probably past it in model life terms)

Can you imagine the results if they retested the 169? There are still plenty of them about on the roads.
The results would likely suggest running the wrong way down the motorway with a paper bag on your head would be safer, but they haven't so no one can make a story about it's results.

True they've done sweet FA to the current model over the years to improve it, but you can't really think they'll do much to it any time soon.
Maybe the City Brake option might become standard on higher end trim, other than that they'll just let it die as they did the Punto, I doubt it'll be tested again before a new model appears so anything they do will be more marketing than test based results.

The worry would be if any new model test results are low, but we already know they will be one day.

As for the question if crash mitigation systems are worth it or does driver skill need to increase?
Probably a bit of both.
If you consider if every car on the road had some sort of emergency braking system, it evens thing out much better than the impossible of trying even out the driving standards, as you can probably improve them, but with anything human involved, we aren't going to get there, there's just to many variables.
 
If you look at the images/videos and ratings of similar sized cars or from a similar price bracket aka, Suzuki Celerio, Dacia Sandero and VW triplets, it’s hard not to see how these cars today would also fail to make the grade. It’s seems to be unfairly biased against Fiat. All a car really needs is a good solid structure, a few air bags, well designed seats to ward off whiplash and ABS. All the other modern fripperies suggest that humans are incapable of taking the necessary preventive steps to avoid an accident. All this additional tech just adds to the price on what is already an expensive object that depreciates fast.
 
The Panda is no less safe than it was before; it’s the scale of measurement that has changed, not the car. Why can’t some people see that. The media just want to sell their product and to hell with the damage and confusion it causes to others.
 
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