Fiat Panda scores ZERO in latest Euro NCAP tests – and Jeep Wrangler just ONE star

The Fiat Panda has received a ZERO rating in the latest round of Euro NCAP tests, with the worst-ever rating for child safety.

This time last year the Fiat Punto got a zero star rating from Euro NCAP in their latest round of testing, and just eight months later Fiat withdrew it from sale and sent it to the Fiat showroom in the sky.

It was a bit of a shock to see any car get a zero rating in a world where car manufactures strive for, and usually achieve, a five-star rating, but the Punto was already past its sell-by date and Fiat had no plans to renew it.

But now Fiat has been dealt another blow by Euro NCAP with a zero star rating for the Fiat Panda, a car Fiat plan to make the future budget mainstay of its range alongside the 500. So work is needed.

The 2018 facelift for the Fiat Panda failed to get more than 50 per cent in any of the tests, with safety for children in the back of the Panda scoring just 16 per cent against an average of 79 per cent.

Matthew Avery from Thatcham said:

Most troubling is that the FIAT Panda is seen as a good choice for young drivers and fledgling families. But the only safety technology fitted were seatbelt reminders and the rear system failed to meet requirements, so wasn’t even rated. Where budgets are tight, consider a safer small car second-hand, like the five-star SEAT Ibiza.

To add to FCA’s woes, the new Jeep Wrangler managed just a one star rating, with the man from Thatcham expressing astonishment that any car at this price doesn’t get AEB fitted.

But it was good news for other car makers with the Audi Q3, BMW X5, Hyundai Santa Fe, Jaguar I Pace, Peugeot 508 and Volvo V60 all gaining a five-star Euro NCAP rating.