A core principle of the Volvo Car Corporation is to ensure that its cars are built to provide all round (holistic) safety in practical everyday situations given a wide range of crash scenarios.  Our safety systems and innovations are developed with the help of the world’s most advanced crash testing facility in Sweden. 

The Euro NCAP test (and its Australian equivalent) only partly meets the six criteria set out by Volvo Car Corporation. It is therefore not possible to draw any classified conclusions of the total safety performance of the cars from the Euro NCAP test results. At present there is NO Australian engineering vehicle standard for roll-over protection!(RACV) This is a critically crucial area that is being bypassed and consumers are generally unaware of this. Pillar performance is crucial as the load on the roof is transferred to the body structure through the pillars. Some manufacturers are omitting bracing in this area as a cost-cutting measure as a roll-over test is not part of the crash tests that award 5 star safety ratings.
 
Please remember that unanimous results from different sources, using different rating methods, are more reliable than single rating results. This is the standpoint that Volvo has had for over a decade now.
 
Volvo Car Corporation believes that the best way for a consumer to establish an informed opinion about the safety properties of a car is to study rating results from all types of rating programmes (lab based, accident based and expert opinion). A special emphasis should be placed on those tests that have an ability to reflect real-life performance.

Volvo Car Corporation believes that a comprehensive, sound and reliable car safety rating system is a legitimate consumer claim. It’s essential to adopt a holistic approach when evaluating a car’s safety level.  Volvo Car Corporation believes the following six criteria should be met in such a ratings system:
 
1. The system should take into account both active and passive safety. Preferably they should be indicated separately.
 
2. It must reflect a combination of: type of accident; type of vehicle; objects collided with; speed; and, the number of people travelling – all of which are representative of actual road conditions.
 
3. The car itself must be the determining factor. In other words, the system must be independent of the driver and/or passengers.
 
4. If the results for a car are shown in the form of measurement values, these must not vary from year to year for the same model of car.
 
5. The system should serve as a guide for customers looking for safe cars.
 
6. It should also serve as a guide for car manufacturers, when it comes to developing safer cars.
 
Today, there are methods that meet some of these criteria, but none that meet all the criteria. However, they can be used as a guide for the customer, but should be recognised for their limitations.

There are three main types of test methods used in car safety ratings:

• Lab-based tests (i.e. US NCAP, Euro NCAP, Australian NCAP)
• Accident-based tests (i.e. Folksam, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• Expert opinion based tests (i.e. Which? Car Guide UK’s Consumer Association)

These three rating types are very different in character. Volvo Car Corporation believes it is important that consumers understand that unanimous results from different sources, using different rating methods, are more reliable than a single rating result.