Five Stars for VW Beetle and up!

Euro NCAP's latest round of safety tests has awarded the Volkswagen Beetle and Volkswagen up! with the maximum five stars each.

The Beetle particularly impressed testers for achieving remarkable results in the area of child occupant protection, reaching 90 per cent which is the maximum score Euro NCAP has yet given for this assessment. It scored 92 per cent for adult occupant protection, and 53 per cent for pedestrian protection; and 86 per cent for its safety assist systems, which include Electronic Stability Control as standard.

Despite its diminutive size, the Volkswagen up! (pictured left) scored 89 per cent for adult occupancy safety, 80 per cent for child occupancy safety, 46 per cent for pedestrian safety and also achieved 86 per cent for its safety assist systems, including Electronic Stability Control and the Volkswagen City Emergency Brake, both of which will be standard in Ireland.

The City Emergency Brake on the up! was singled out for special praise. The emergency system is designed to help a driver avoid a low-speed crash or to reduce its severity. It was rewarded as part of Euro NCAP's Advanced mission to reward advanced systems.

The Beetle goes on sale in January with a starting price below €20,000 while the up! arrives in March, with a 4-door variant planned for July.