Latin NCAP has published the crash test results of Toyota Yaris in Oct 2021 – It has surprisingly scored a low safety rating
Latin NCAP has released crash test results of Suzuki Baleno and Toyota Yaris. While the Suzuki Baleno is made in India, the Yaris that was crash tested, is made in Thailand and Brazil. Both cars have scored low safety rating. Where Baleno scored a 0 star safety rating, Yaris has scored 1 star rating.
Toyota Yaris Crash Test 2021
Latin NCAP reports, “The Toyota Yaris, produced in Brazil and Thailand, with double airbags and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as standard achieved one star under Latin NCAPs latest protocol. The popular B segment model achieved 41.43% in Adult Occupant box, 63.85% in Child Occupant box, 61.63% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users box and 41.86% in Safety Assist box.
The Yaris for Latin American market does not offer side body and side head protection airbags as standard like the model sold in Malaysia for example. In the frontal impact test (unit tested in 2019) the model showed unstable structure and unstable footwell area performance.
Side impact showed a door opening during the test. A door opening in Latin NCAP side impact test, which has same configuration as Regulation UN95, means that the car would have failed the UN95 test. The Yaris seatbelt reminder system (SBR) showed no detection of the front passenger.
The door opening in the side impact requires immediate action by Toyota as it poses a serious risk of ejection in the case of side impacts. The result is valid for the hatchback and sedan versions of the Yaris.
This model offers optional equipment that can potentially contribute to better performance and could have become standard in all model range at the time of this publication but a decision of Toyota in Mexico affected negatively the standardization of key equipment to improve the result of the Yaris. Toyota refused to test the optional equipment to show its performance which opens the question of the effectives of those extra safety elements.
First Toyota Car To Score 1 Star – Latin NCAP
Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Latin NCAP said: “Even more surprising and disappointing (after Baleno’s 0 star) is Toyota’s first ever one star model, the Yaris. It is concerning that a decision made by Toyota Mexico is the main reason for this result but moreover the responsible of the decision of not offering now, as standard key safety equipment. As a result of the decision, key safety equipment such as side body and side curtain airbags are not available for all Latin Americans”.
Stephan Brodziak, Latin NCAP Chairman said: “Toyota Yaris is very disappointing that it has obtained only one star, as this car is so popular in our region, with a very high market penetration. In previous tests Toyota had a very good safety performance record, which is inevitably stained when designing with such low safety of one of the most accessible vehicles for consumers that the brand has, due to the risk involved in having a one star vehicle circulating on the streets of our region.”
