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NEWS
Renault Clio misses out on rear airbags
No curtains for all-new Clio 4, but Renault's light car is still expected to score five-star ANCAP ratingRenault's Senior Manager of Communications, Christophe Deville, confirmed the new Clio 4 will be offered with four airbags only, and you won't get six even if you ask for them.
The new Clio will arrive in Australia early in the third quarter (July) of 2013 and unlike the Mazda2 and Toyota Yaris, which have six and seven airbags respectively, will not offer side curtain airbag protection for rear seat passengers.
However the new Clio has already been given a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, the highest possible score, and has been rated as the safest car in its class in three of the four test criteria. Christophe Deville, speaking with Aussie journalists in Florence, Italy, defended the decision to not offer side curtain airbags for rear seat passengers, saying that they aren't proven to save lives.
"The number of airbags are not a guarantee [of protection]. I think Euro NCAP scoring shows it's got the [best] passive safety in the segment."
"We made the choice of not putting in rear airbags for other things ... We preferred to put the investment in sensors to protect front passengers quicker."
The sensors Mr Deville mentions are pressure sensors that can more rapidly detect impending impacts and ready the car's safety systems quicker as a result.
Renault Australia doesn't expect the lack of rear curtain airbags to harm the vehicle's ANCAP (Australasian New Car Assessment Programme) safety rating and expects a five star score.
"Traditionally ANCAP follows Euro NCAP results. This vehicle has achieved a five-star safety rating in Euro NCAP, which is the most stringent testing process in the world. We're confident this is a five-star [ANCAP] car," said Emily Abrosy, Corporate Communications Manager at Renault Australia.
The Volkswagen up! sub-light car is another European-build runabout that is only available with four airbags, but is anticipated to achieve a five-star ANCAP safety rating when official results are released Friday.
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Written byFeann Torr
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