EuroNCAP has released the crash test results for 12 new vehicles.

Ten of these achieved the maximum five stars in the overall rating.

The Toyota Urban Cruiser and the Chevrolet Spark received three and four-star ratings respectively.

Toyota, which has a string of five-star results behind it, saw its latest Urban Cruiser receive a disappointing three-star rating.

This was due to a weak result of 58% in Adult Occupant Protection.

In contrast Chevrolet’s safety engineers have clearly made laudable investments in safety, as its new Cruze received a five-star result with an almost perfect Adult Occupant score of 96%.

Dr Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP’s Secretary General says: ‘We congratulate Chevrolet.

"The company has bounced back with two cars that have a commendable level of safety performance.

"The result from Toyota is disappointing, but in 2010, we predict further results like these as EuroNCAP’s next stage of the rating scheme kicks in and requirements become even tougher.

"Consumers should not make presumptions about a car’s safety performance due to the brand it carries.

"Given EuroNCAP’s test and assessments continually evolve - consumers must also remember to consider the year of test when looking at results."

The latest round of test saw the following vehicles achieve five stars

  • BMW X1
  • Chevrolet Cruze
  • Citroën DS3
  • Infiniti FX
  • Mazda 3
  • Mercedes E-Class
  • Mercedes GLK
  • Opel Astra
  • Peugeot 5008
  • Volkswagen Scirocco

The Chevrolet Spark was given four stars because it does not have Electronic Stability Control (ESC) fitted as standard on any variant.