While it’s not exactly a brand new model anymore, the Toyota Yaris Cross remains a strong seller in the country. Given its popularity, it’s worth knowing if it’s a safe car to begin with. That’s where the ASEAN New Car Assessment Program (ASEAN NCAP) comes in.
ASEAN NCAP is responsible for giving safety ratings for some of the most popular cars sold in the region. Recently, the agency put the popular crossover through its paces, and the results are in.
The safety organization gave the Toyota Yaris Cross its highest rating of five stars. That’s good news and all, but how did it achieve it? Thankfully, ASEAN NCAP has the breakdown.
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In adult occupant protection, the Yaris Cross measured relatively low injury risks. There’s good protection for the head, while the front passenger’s legs are also well covered. As for the driver’s side, only a higher risk of injury to the shin was a sore spot. Chest protection for both were rated adequate. More impressively, the subcompact crossover actually got a perfect score in the side impact tests.
Adult protection was still rated good overall, but the crossover shined in the child occupant protection tests. It got perfect scores for both front and side impact tests, and the only minor demerit was the ease of installing the child seat. Of course, the car got those scores with a child seat in use.
The advanced driver assists were also tested. The Yaris Cross’ autonomous emergency braking system, while not perfect, still received a fair rating, although points were knocked down for not having seatbelt reminders for the rear seats.
Still, the relatively minor faults weren’t enough to bring down the scores for the Yaris Cross to receive a five-star rating. Overall impact protection was excellent, and a few more tweaks to the advanced driver assists should make it safety based on ASEAN NCAP’s testing methods.
Do note that the five star rating applies to variants with advanced driver assists. In the local market’s context, these score are applicable to the mid-spec 1.5 V CVT and the electrified 1.5 S HEV CVT variants of the car. The entry-level 1.5 G CVT loses out on that, but that variant is still equipped with six airbags and stability control.
For those in the market for a Yaris Cross, these ratings suggest that this crossover is a safe buy, literally and figuratively.
