When you’re buying a new vehicle, it makes sense to get the safest one possible. Even though buyers can be pretty confident that any new car meets the basic safety standards, there’s still a wide gulf between the best and worst cars on sale today – and for those who drive lots or want to carry the precious cargo of family, children and pets, high safety standards are crucial.
Naturally, safety testing has to be entrusted to a third party – even our expert reviews team can’t get away with crashing test cars just to see if they survive – and in the UK the organisation responsible for this is Euro NCAP. Euro NCAP performs a wide range of safety tests, including crash tests at different speeds, using sophisticated dummies to measure the loads on occupants’ bodies.
It also tests pedestrian safety, as well as things like the proper fitment of child seats and the presence and operation of safety features such as lane-keeping assist and autonomous emergency braking.
Euro NCAP’s tests are constantly changing, to the point where the organisation says you shouldn’t compare vehicles tested in different years against each other. So when compiling a list of the safest cars on sale, we limited it exclusively to cars Euro NCAP tested during 2024.
The safest cars on sale are:
- Mercedes E-Class
- Skoda Superb
- Audi Q6 e-tron
- Mazda CX-80
- Porsche Macan Electric
- Cupra Tavascan
- Toyota C-HR
- MG HS
- Volvo EX30
- Subaru Crosstrek
Scores: Adult occupant (AO), Child Occupant (CO), Vulnerable Road Users (VRU), Safety Assist (SA)
Mercedes E-Class
AO: 92% CO: 90% VRU: 84% SA: 87%
The Mercedes E-Class is a super high-tech executive car, and historically it’s always benefitted from sophisticated safety kit filtering down from the flagship S-Class. That, along with a strong structure and great passive safety, means it’s the single safest vehicle Euro NCAP tested during 2024.
With scores of 92% and 90% for adult and child occupant protection respectively, you can be sure that the E-Class will provide great protection for the whole family inside – and those scores apply to both the E-Class saloon and the larger estate model.
Meanwhile, a score of 84% in pedestrian safety is equally impressive, while an 87% score in the safety assist category means that the scores of safety tech are effective in their operation.
The E-Class also feels safe to drive. It’s easy to turn off some of the more annoying alerts with just one button press, while most functions are available at a high level on the infotainment screen – so while there aren’t many physical controls, you don’t have to fiddle about with the touchscreen too much.
Good visibility, hugely comfortable seats and an array of programs designed to keep you alert at the wheel also mean the E-Class is great for long trips, where you’ll stay awake in comfort. A special mention has to go to Mercedes’ adaptive LED headlights – they’re the best we’ve used, lighting up a huge portion of the road and only blanking out the very specific area where oncoming cars are.
And even if safety isn’t your primary concern, the E-Class has a lot going for it. It’s very spacious – especially the estate – comfortable on a long journey, and has the option of some really efficient engines. The full-width Superscreen on some versions adds real wow factor, but the E-Class feels like a limousine in miniature even in the lower trim levels. It’s a shame it costs like a limousine, though – you’ll pay handsomely, especially for versions with lots of optional equipment.
Skoda Superb
AO: 93% CO: 87% VRU: 82% SA: 80%
The Superb is a really fantastic car – we awarded it the ‘Comfortable Cruiser’ category in the 2025 Carwow Car of the Year awards. As a super-spacious, practical hatchback or estate, it’ll no doubt be purchased by a lot of family buyers – so it’s great to know it’s almost as safe as the much more expensive Mercedes-Benz E-Class, according to Euro NCAP.
The Superb’s 93% score for adult occupant protection is actually a little higher than the E-Class’s, and ties with its sister car the Volkswagen Passat for the highest rating of any car you can buy in the UK. It’s not too shabby in the other areas, either – scoring 87% for child occupant protection, 82% for pedestrian safety and 80% in the safety assist category. All of these are very impressive scores.
Skoda allows you to tailor the safety features of the Superb easily, with an easy-to-follow menu which can be accessed from a customisable shortcut on the touchscreen. There’s also a trio of physical dials underneath the screen, which allow you to change some settings without faffing about with onscreen menus.
The Superb also has good visibility, all-round sensors and a reversing camera so manoeuvring around town and parking is made safer. From the mid-spec model up you get some really excellent Matrix LED headlights too, which maximises visibility at night.
With a gigantic boot – up to 690 litres in the estate, bigger than any alternative – and rear seat space to rival a concert hall, let alone other family cars, the Superb is among the most practical vehicles you can buy. It certainly makes you question if you really need that high-riding SUV to get maximum practicality. You even get an ISOFIX point to securely mount a child seat in the front – not always a given.
If you like the Superb but fancy a slightly posher badge, then go for the Volkswagen Passat. It has a similarly spacious boot and almost as much rear space, but a slightly different design – however, its safety scores are identical to the Skoda’s.
Audi Q6 e-tron
AO: 91% CO: 92% VRU: 81% SA: 80%
The Audi Q6 e-tron may not be as big or as expensive as the flagship Q8 e-tron, but it has more tech than that car because it’s based on much newer and shinier underpinnings.
That means that not only do you get Audi’s flashiest interior with the most goodies for you and your passengers, but you get the most sophisticated and up-to-date safety kit. As a result the Q6 e-tron returned the best Euro NCAP results of any electric car tested in 2024, besides a couple of not-for-the-UK Zeekr models.
The Q6 scored an impressive 91% in the adult safety category, and its score of 92% for child occupants is actually the highest for any car tested in 2024. Respectable returns of 81% and 80% in the vulnerable road users and safety assist categories round out an admirable roster of safety ratings.
There’s some really interesting safety tech aboard the Q6 e-tron, too. Audi’s customisable LED taillights can actually communicate with other road users, for example showing a hazard symbol if there’s danger ahead, while they and the daytime running lights display a specific graphic if the car is doing an auto-parking manoeuvre.
All-round cameras and sensors feature, of course, though they are somewhat making up for the Q6’s high-set windowline leading to quite poor visibility round town, especially to the rear. The Q6’s interior also has the potential to be quite distracting, as it’s positively screen-tastic. Not only do you get a digital driver’s display, but almost all of the car’s functions including the climate control are accessed through the central infotainment screen – though it is at least massive and responsive.
However, while top models get a screen for the front-seat passenger, this can’t distract the driver thanks to a polarising feature which makes it invisible from the driver’s seat. Clever.
