The new Citroen C4 has missed out on getting a five-star rating from safety authority ANCAP.
It received an adult occupant protection rating of 76 per cent, a child occupant protection rating of 81 per cent, a vulnerable road user protection rating of 57 per cent, and a safety assist rating of 62 per cent.
The thresholds for a five-star rating in each category are 80, 80, 60 and 70 per cent, respectively.
“Unfortunately, the Citroën C4’s scores fell short in three of our four key areas of assessment meaning it was unable to meet the five star safety standard consumers and fleets have come to expect,” said ANCAP chief executive officer Carla Hoorweg.
ANCAP has rated 23 new vehicles under its latest 2020-2022 testing criteria, and only two – including the C4 – haven’t received five stars. The other was the zero-star Mitsubishi Express.
“The safety performance of the C4 suggests the same level of ambition shown by many of its competitors was not a focus for Citroën with this particular model,” said Ms Hoorweg.
“It is likely that with some small enhancements, Citroën could see the C4 elevated to five stars, and we would strongly encourage Citroën to consider introducing such improvements.”
ANCAP flagged the lack of far-side impact protection in particular.
The C4 doesn’t have a front-centre airbag and ANCAP says in the absence of this, or any other “appropriate design countermeasure”, it was only awarded 0.12 out of 4.00 points in this particular area.
In its technical report, ANCAP said “the [AEB] system does not react to cyclists and was not tested”. That’s because the rating was based on Euro NCAP testing of a C4 with only a camera-based AEB system, and ANCAP says the local safety spec is superior.
Citroen says the Australian-market model’s camera-and-radar autonomous emergency braking system detects both pedestrians and cyclists, day and night, and works at speeds of 30-80km/h.
ANCAP says this would have likely resulted in improved performance but wasn’t tested.
This criteria is in the Vulnerable Road User Protection category, where the C4 received its lowest rating.
“As with all Citroen vehicles, the C4 focuses on providing safety, comfort and convenience. The single highly-specified C4 variant available in Australia, comes as standard with 18 of the latest generation driving technologies that help ensure a safe and convenient driving environment,” said a spokesperson for Citroen Australia.
The C4’s list of standard safety equipment includes:
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Lane-keep assist
- Adaptive cruise control with stop/go
- Driver attention alert
- Traffic sign recognition
- Reversing camera with front, rear and side parking sensors
- Front, front-side and curtain airbags
The Citroen is available in Australia in a single Shine trim level, priced at $37,990 before on-road costs.
Our review of the C4 is coming soon. Stay tuned.
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