NCAP changes frustrating: Renault

Renault's head of passive safety, Jacques Faure, has labelled EuroNCAP's decision to require curtain airbags that protect rear passengers "frustrating" and suggested the issue will overshadow the strong basic safety credentials of his brand's cars.

The decision, which would effectively relegate key Renault products like the Clio and Captur to four-star ratings if the cars were measured again today, also affects ANCAP crash ratings moving forward.

Both the Clio and Captur have previously achieved a five-star crash rating under the European crash testing program. They achieved this rating without side curtain or rear side airbags. Under the new testing protocols, however, the absence of such airbags excludes the cars from being eligible to receive the top rating. ANCAP has adopted the same upgraded rating system.

"It [Clio and Captur] remains a five star car," Faure told motoring.com.au overnight at the French marque's Lardy crash-testing and powertrain development facility south of Paris.

"But the protocol is the protocol. Today Clio is a five star car but Captur couldn't be a five star [under the new EuroNCAP rules]. It's a problem for us," he stated.

Renault Australia says it considered fast-tracking the new Captur compact SUV onto the Australian market to be able to achieve the five-star label before the changes but reconsidered. Instead, the company says it will now advertise the vehicle with its, Euro NCAP five-star rating, albeit outdated.

Faure said the changes are "a big frustration".

"We are talking about [highlighting] an item that has low [actual collision] exposure yet would 'hide' [overshadow] the very good general [safety] level of this car," he said.

Faure says Renault investigates thousands of collisions each year. He contends that extensive accident investigations show that the risk of fatalities and serious injury to rear seat passengers from side impact is very low.

"For the rear occupants I cannot say having an airbag in front of your head [between head and the colliding object] is not better, but the incidence of that type of accident is very low."

"From accidentology, cases where you have impacts onto the head in the rear are very rare... I don't have in mind one accident [which Renault has investigated] where a curtain airbag would have made a difference," he stated.

Faure says NCAP's decision to adopt mandatory side bags took Renault by surprise. He said it was not economically feasible to re-engineer Clio or Captur to use side-curtain bags in this generation. A 'fix' would have to wait until the next iteration of the cars, perhaps as late as 2018.

"In the Clio and Captur it was critical to make the best possible safety in a package that was affordable for everyone," Faure explained.

"Frontal impact is still [the] main issue today," he stated.

"We were not expecting NCAP to request rear airbags... [But] we are not the only one to make that decision."