Mercedes Citan Kombi ‘failed to shine’ in Euro NCAP tests
THE Mercedes-Benz Citan has achieved an overall three-star rating in its Euro NCAP safety tests.
The Citan was tested in its MPV Kombi 109 Blue Efficiency ‘High’ grade form.
While the Citan scored well in some areas for safety, it was disappointing in many others – especially for a new model on the market.
For adult occupants, the passenger compartment remained stable in frontal impact. Dummy readings showed protection of the knees and femurs of the driver and passenger dummies to be good.
But the test showed some structures in the dashboard presented a hazard to the knees and femurs of occupants of different sizes and also to those sitting in different positions.
The readings of dummy chest compression indicated marginal protection of the driver’s chest.
In the side barrier test, dummy readings indicated good protection of the head. But the Citan Kombi lost points when the side curtain airbag did not deploy as intended, having caught on the upper seat belt anchorage point.
This also happened with the curtain airbag in the side pole test. Mercedes-Benz has indicated that it will improve the performance of the curtain airbag.
In the event of a rear-end collision, the front seats and head restraints were found to provide marginal protection against whiplash injury.
The Citan is equipped with electronic stability control as standard, which met Euro NCAP’s test requirements. The driver-set manual speed assistance system gives only a visual warning to the driver if the set speed is exceeded. This does not meet Euro NCAP’s requirements.
In terms of pedestrian safety, although the bumper was found to be predominantly good, the front edge provided poor protection in most of the areas tested. And while the bonnet provided adequate protection across most of its surface, protection in the areas where an adult’s head might strike was found to be mostly poor.
According to Euro NCAP, the Citan Kombi ‘failed to shine’ in a market segment poorly equipped for safety.
It said the Renault Kangoo-derived van/MPV failed to set itself apart from its competitors in safety tests, with only electronic stability control scoring points in Safety Assist and lacklustre performance in other areas.
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