Since 2010 Latin NCAP has been testing the most popular models in Latin America. It was demonstrated that Latin America's best selling models are 20 years behind Europe, US, Japan, Australia in terms of vehicles safety. How far is the market in Latin America from an improvement in the best selling models’ safety?.

27 different models were tested since 2010 in Latin NCAP phases 1, 2 and 3. The results obtained during the test as well as the inspections supplied the data for the discussion of results.

The most basic equipped versions, which are the ones selected by Latin NCAP, showed that the absence of airbags exposed the passenger dummies to serious injuries. The structural performance of the passengers’ compartment was weak to poor in the best selling models of Latin America. Latin NCAP also tested cars that looked exactly like the European models but their structure showed a poorer performance in the crash test. In the case of the Child Occupant the main reasons for the low star rating were incompatibility of CRS-vehicle seat and seatbelts, poor labelling and poor dynamics in several cases.

The results are limited to the tested models. But considering the annual sales volume of 250.000 units of the best selling model in the region, the coverage of the results in terms of drivers and their families reached is considerably important.

Considering the poor structural performance, and also the old platforms being used to produce popular cars in Latin America, the Industry will have to bring to the market new or improved platforms, with better performance in occupants’ protection. This should come as the governments make the local regulations tougher, but Latin NCAP is already helping to bring changes faster