Saab Cabrio A Five-star Hit

The two cabrios were among 12 new cars undergoing the latest Euro NCAP tests. And eight scored the maximum rating, prompting the question: are the assessments now too easy? Maurice Eaton, Euro NCAP's programme manager, told us: "By the end of the year, we'll be in a position to make positive noises about when we can introduce handling and braking tests. With ESP stability control in particular, there's huge potential to reduce the number of accidents." He added that factors such as visibility and lighting would also be put under the spotlight by the independent organisation in the future.

Eaton picked out the rear seatbelt reminders in Volvo's five-star S40 as the next big thing in safety. "More than 7,000 lives could be saved in Europe each year if everyone belted up on every trip," he said. Yet he denied that the number of high marks was devaluing the tests. "We've always wanted to increase the occupant safety available to consumers, and it's working," he added. "There's still work to be done, but it's great news."

Other top performers in the tests were the new Vauxhall Astra and VW Golf, while the Toyota Prius also got maximum marks. Honda was celebrating, too, as its Jazz became the first supermini to gain three stars for pedestrian safety.

The lowest rating went to the Fiat Doblo, with three stars. It suffered major deformation of its body structure, and engineers reported the front impact was much worse than that of the side one. Full results here: Crash tests