The Jeep Cherokee and Peugeot 208 have broken a run of 25 five-star safety awards for new launches in 2019, while there were top marks for two BMWs.

Following the unprecedented sequence of top awards for all cars rated so far in 2019, the Jeep Cherokee and Peugeot 208 are the first to fall below the five-star bar set by Euro NCAP’s rigorous testing regime, both receiving four stars.

Matthew Avery, director of research, Thatcham Research, said: “The Peugeot 208’s four-star rating is respectable, but the car is not a good choice if you’re carrying adults in the back, with its ‘Poor’ whiplash protection for rear passengers.

“Protecting both front and rear occupants is especially important as families continue to downsize from larger vehicles.”

He continued: “The Jeep Cherokee is an improvement on last year’s one-star Wrangler. However, there’s still a long way to go before Jeep can get back to producing five-star cars like the 2017 Compass.

“The Cherokee’s Adult Occupant Protection (80%) and Child Occupant (78%) scores are the lowest awarded in 2019, while the front and rear seats again offered marginal whiplash protection. It’s low-speed Autonomous Emergency Braking system didn’t meet the mark either.”

Thatcham Research’s pioneering whiplash testing saw it invited to become a Euro NCAP member in 2007. The testing was introduced into the Euro NCAP programme “at a time when neck injury insurance claims for whiplash were causing widespread industry alarm,” Avery says.

In 2000, only 16% of seats were rated Good, in 2007 that figure had almost doubled to 29%. Today the figure is closer to 100%.

“Whiplash is now a key part of carmaker safety strategy, and seats today are specifically designed to protect occupants’ necks,” he said.

“Although the whiplash results seen in this round of testing don’t represent a significant backward step, the safety of rear seat occupants should remain a priority.”

Meanwhile, the 97% Adult Occupant Protection score awarded to the BMW 3 Series is one of the highest seen in 2019.

However, Avery suggested that “whilst good, it’s 76% score for safety technologies is down on the 94% benchmark set by the Tesla Model 3 earlier this year.”

He said: “The BMW 1 Series also scored a top Euro NCAP rating, but again did not quite meet the standard set by the Mercedes A-Class in 2018. This goes to show how Euro NCAP ratings are driving an incredibly competitive safety market.”

Euro NCAP test scores

Vehicle	Adult Occupant Protection (%)	Child Occupant Protection (%)	Vulnerable Road Users (%)	Safety Assist (%)
BMW 1 Series	83	87	76	72
BMW 3 Series	97	87	87	76
Jeep Cherokee	80	78	56	69
Peugeot 208	91	86	56	71