Holden Defends Barina Sedan's Two-Star Crash Rating

[JoeT]

Holden Defends Two-Star Barina Sedan Crash Rating

Marton Pettendy
27 February 2006
www.goauto.com.au

Holden has challenged the dismal two-star crash rating achieved in the latest round of Euro NCAP crash tests by GM Daewoo’s Aveo sedan, which is sold as the Chevrolet Aveo in Europe and was launched in Australia two weeks ago as the Barina sedan.

Aveo was singled out by Europe’s leading independent crash test body for having what it describes as "the unacceptably high risk of life-threatening injury to the driver's chest.

"As a result, the car's final star was struck through. Although the Aveo scored enough points overall to qualify for three stars, Euro NCAP insists on a minimum level of performance in each of the frontal and side impacts.

"While the Aveo's performance in side impact was good, it did not score enough points in the frontal test to be given a three-star rating," said Euro NCAP.

ENCAP uses a "strike through" to show there was a serious risk of "life threatening" injury to one body region. In Aveo’s case, the driver was found to be at severe risk of injury in a frontal impact test at 64km/h.

But GM Daewoo Auto & Technology has asked for Aveo to be retested by NCAP and Holden says it disagrees with Euro NCAP’s crash test methodology, which it claims is inconsistent with its own crash test results.

"As is the case with all ENCAP tests, regardless of the results achieved, we fundamentally disagree with the test methodology," said GM Holden spokesperson Jason Laird.

Holden also pointed out that, in terms of pedestrian safety, Aveo out-scored many more expensive models in ENCAP’s latest round of testing, the results of which were announced late last Friday.

Of the six cars tested by Euro NCAP, only two achieved the top five-star accolade for occupant protection – despite the recent calls to introduce a new benchmark via a sixth star following the increasing number of cars that have obtained top marks for adult occupant protection in Euro NCAP tests.

But it was Aveo’s two-star result that led Euro NCAP to issue a scathing "wake-up call for the motor industry".

"I am pleased to see that two of the six cars have achieved a maximum five-star rating for adult occupant protection," said Euro NCAP chairman Claes Tingvall. "It is reassuring that more and more car companies are now placing an emphasis on safety and we are happy to recognise their achievements.

"However, we want to encourage the highest levels of safety in all cars and, in that regard, there is still work to be done."

Aveo wasn’t the only car to come under Euro NCAP scrutiny, with Kia’s Cerato found to offer a high risk of injury to the driver’s chest in the side impact test.

In contrast, Peugeot’s new 207 joined the growing list of light hatches to be awarded the five-star Euro NCAP rating for adult occupant protection.

And while the new 159 sedan became the first Alfa Romeo to score a five-star adult occupant protection rating, the 156 replacement (due on sale here mid-year) achieved only a one-star result for pedestrian protection.

"I am pleased to see that Alfa Romeo achieved the coveted five-star Euro NCAP rating for adult occupant protection, yet I am disappointed that they have not shown the same commitment to pedestrian protection," said Mr Tingvall.

"There is no reason why cars cannot now provide a high level of protection to all road users."

Kia Motors, which takes over Australian distribution of its vehicles from March 1, was unavailable for comment, while Alfa Romeo Australia spokesman Edward Rowe told GoAuto: "Pedestrian safety is an area Alfa Romeo is working hard on and will improve dramatically in coming models".

Aveo is a facelifted version of the Kalos sedan sold here as a Daewoo between April 2003 and December 2004. It’s now available here as Holden’s first Barina sedan - alongside the Barina hatch, which is a Lion-badged version of the five-door Kalos hatch that was also previously sold here as a Daewoo.

Euro NCAP says it was advised that the Daewoo’s three and five-door Kalos will be available until 2008, when it’s expected to be replaced by an Aveo-badged hatch.

"It has been indicated that the facelift includes improvements in safety and Euro NCAP can only conclude that the safety performance of the Kalos will not be as good as the Aveo," said Euro NCAP.

"In any case, as our assessment was made on a saloon car, we can not be sure that the three/five-door car will have the same performance."

Aveo’s crash test result is worse than that of the previous-generation Holden Barina, which was built by Opel in Europe and achieved a four-star rating back in 2002.

The new model’s poor showing in ENCAP’s Phase 17+ tests is another blow to Holden’s Korean sourcing policy.

Last May the JD Power and Associates 2005 Initial Quality Study ranked the Suzuki Forenza-branded version of the (Daewoo Lacetti-based) Holden Viva in last place for new-vehicle quality behind 35 other brands sold in the US.

Of the other cars tested, the Suzuki SX4 and Hyundai Tucson all-wheel drive models achieved four stars for occupant testing.

[69Firebird400]

Such a shame...the you-know-what is already hitting the fan on this one. I really hope that this can be resolved relatively easily. Clearly this affects more than just GM North America but also Australia, Europe, etc. too.

[Martino_z]

I said this about daewoos so many times before but price takes a back seat to everything including safety and quality.

[zl-1]

Very bad news...

[AndrewGS]

Originally Posted by JoeT

"As is the case with all ENCAP tests, regardless of the results achieved, we fundamentally disagree with the test methodology," said GM Holden spokesperson Jason Laird.

The problem here is that pretty much all other models go through the same testing and are given scores on the same scale, with most doing better. I agree that you really can't reproduce real-world collisions, but you have to set some type of standard with some sort of collision.

I look at it this way, at least it's not one star, it does well in side impacts, and you can run pedestrians down without it causing too much damage to their person.

[Bravada]

Well, media are very kind to GM saying the Aveo got two stars. The second star struck through means the Aveo actually got 1, or if you want to be kind to Aveo, 1.5 stars. It's an absolutely appalling result, worse than anything tested since 2000. It means that you're very likely to sustain serious injuries or die in an accident in the Aveo.

GM's Excuse Division shouldn't tell Euro NCAP to test the car the way they want, but rather go and tell GM DAT to do their homework before the hatchback is released. But I believe GM is very tight-fisted when it comes to GM DAT, so I believe they will just stick with what they've got in hope eveyrbody forgets those Euro NCAP results.

[paul8488]

How did they manage to go from 4-star with the current generation to 2-star with the new one? Did they remove structural members? Trade steel for plastic? There is no excuse for this vehicle at minimum not retaining the crash-worthiness of its predecessor, if not improving. Odd how they touted the old results, but now call the test into question. Very maddening.

[avdberg]

How did they manage to go from 4 to 2 stars? Well the Aveo comes from GM DAT and the old Barina is an Opel Corsa. This is what you get when you don't want to pay the right price. Quality doesn't come for nothing.
There is really no excuse for GM DAT/Chevrolet/Holden. They know how EURO NCAP tests. Challenging the test procedures doesn't get you anywhere. Even Renault knows how to construct its vehicles in such a way that they get 5 stars. And if the people at GM DAT want some lessons in crash safety, I would advise them to ask their colleagues at SAAB.
So, my advice: don't buy this car (and if you live in Australia: even the old Astra scored better than the Aveo)

[kenman923]

I may feel safer in a Smart car or even an Isetta.

[Bravada]

Smart scored four, so kenman's comment is fully legitimate. You could feel safer in almost any car available, even the lousy Proton Impian scored three. What is worse, the good old 1998 scored 2.5 (three with a strike), and the Aveo uses rehashed Lanos platform, so GM DAT actually managed to retard - the same concerns Matiz/Spark - 1999/2000 Matiz got three stars, but the new Chevrolet Matiz/Spark got the third one struck. The current Astra Classic (Astra B) scored four back in 1999.

[Butz]

And they defend the ratings! How desperate!!

[kenman923]

I do know that it's not looking positive for GM Daewoo to take 2nd place in the Korean Automaker's market. They could lose to Kia.

[SUPERBADD75]

it just shocks me that in this day and age there are still vehicles that make it to the sales lot that perform so poorly. i figured with all of the "virtual testing" they do on computers, and then the in-house testing that they do before NHTSA, NCAP, and others even get a hold of the vehicles that no cars would do this poorly. this is a serious black mark for GM, and it just amazes me that they allowed this car to make it to market. for shame, GM.

[mbukukanyau]

they need to go back and redesign that car

[paul8488]

Originally Posted by mbukukanyau

they need to go back and redesign that car

They just redesigned it, knowing full well they had to meet safety standards. Since they couldn't do it this time there's no reason to believe redesigning it would do any good, since they're apparently incompetent.