Fleet managers who specify that all their new cars must have a five-star crash rating from EuroNCAP have been advised that a new stricter crash regime has been introduced.

The new rating of safety performance covers all areas of a car’s safety.

Previously, there were three separate ratings available for each vehicle.

Now EuroNCAP will publish a new overall rating that will cover adult and child occupant protection, pedestrian protection and a new area of assessment: safety assist.

Safety assist rewards cars that crash avoidance systems such as Electronic Stability Control (ESC), which many fleets already specify as essential equipment on any new car they order.

The new rating scheme requires all safety equipment, including ESC, to be standard on 85% of volume sales and at least optionally available on every variant.

The power of the new scheme is already evident as two manufacturers who were threatened with a downgraded result decided to make ESC optional on all variants.

Under the new testing regime, vehicles are awarded a single overall score from one to five stars.

The assessment also includes the recently introduced whiplash tests.

The overall rating is based on the car’s performance in each of the main areas and the scores are weighted with respect to each other.

Over the next three years, stricter requirements will be introduced increasing the emphasis on all-round safety performance and demanding higher levels of achievement in each area.

Six cars have already undergone the new tests. Four achieved the maximum five stars.

They were the Mazda 6, Mitsubishi Lancer, Toyota Avensis and Toyota iQ.

The Citroen C3 Picasso and the Subaru Impreza were both awarded four stars.

Following the tests, Mitsubishi and Subaru both agreed to change their ESC policies for the Lancer and Impreza, as in some countries variants of the cars were offered without ESC.