The all-new Volvo V40 will be given a lower insurance rating following extensive testing of the model's City Safety technology at the industry research centre in Thatcham.

Thatcham's Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, put Volvo's own version of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), known as City Safety, fitted as standard on the V40, through its testing procedure. It concluded the technology was so effective at preventing low speed accidents that it should therefore be taken into consideration when deciding the insurance group. Depending on model, the V40 range will now be given an insurance rating two to three groups lower under the new criteria.

Following the extensive testing, the Association of British Insurers, which has authorised Thatcham to undertake all AEB testing to validate the effectiveness of individual systems, has now introduced AEB into its group rating calculations. It is the first time this has happened so soon after a technology's emergence on the market and is a testament to the industry's confidence in the system's potential to significantly reduce accident damage and personal injury.

Volvo's City Safety low-speed collision avoidance system operates at speeds up to 31 mph on the V40 (currently 19mph on other Volvo models), keeps an eye on traffic in front and automatically brakes if the driver fails to react in time when the vehicle in front slows down or stops - or if the car is approaching a stationary vehicle too fast. The technology was first fitted as standard to all Volvo XC60 models, when the model launched in 2008, following its success in reducing accidents and injury, Volvo took the decision to fit City Safety as standard to all subsequent new models.

Currently, only the V40 has been tested although the majority of Volvo models, with the exception of XC90, C30 and C70, fit AEB as standard.

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