NIO’s city runabout scored 96% for adult occupant protection under more stringent 2025 rating.
NIO’s firefly has become the safest car tested by EuroNCAP under their more stringent 2025 rating, achieving a 96% score in the adult occupant protection category.
It is one of seven Chinese cars to attain the highly coveted 5-star safety rating in the latest round of tests, additional proof that Chinese cars are prioritising safety on top of the vast majority of previously tested Chinese cars that also achieved a 5-star status.
The firefly edged out two new entrants from Turkey’s Togg brand, which achieved 95% and 94% scores, perfectly demonstrating the extensive efforts firefly put into the safety element of their compact hatchback.
The only blot on the copybook for the Chinese was the MG 3 which claimed a 4-star result courtesy of a poor adult occupancy score of just 74% with concerns raised about the driver’s seat.
The firefly was the best car tested overall by EuroNCAP in this latest round of testing, taking a record 96% score in the adult occupant test, and a very decent 87% result in the child occupant test.
Its 82% score in the vulnerable road users category puts it in tenth place overall, while the comprehensive standard safety kit places it sixth of all car tested with the 2025 rating with a score of 86%.
Somewhat surprisingly, the BYD Dolphin Surf, otherwise known as the Seagull in China, also claimed a 5-star score, the significant modifications for European market working a treat for the smallest car tested this time round.
It achieved an adult occupancy score of 82%, beating some far larger vehicles, a child occupant score of 86% placing it in the top half of vehicles tested to the 2025 standard, a vulnerable road users score of 76%, and a safety assist score of 77%.
While the MG 3 failed to make the grade, SAIC’s first entry into Europe under the IM brand did manage the full five stars achieving a 90% adult occupancy score and an 85% child occupant score, both decent but average results.
A vulnerable road users score of 83% puts it seventh on the 2025 rating list, so not a bad car to jump in front of if you have to choose, and a safety assist score of 87%, placing it fifth on the 2025 list.
The slightly larger Exlantix ES from Chery’s Exeed brand, managed an acceptable 88% in the adult occupant category and 82% in the child occupant category, putting it behind Chery’s OMODA 9 in both categories.
It fared little better in the vulnerable road users and safety assist categories, achieving middling scores of 77% in both, not particularly impressive but nevertheless enough for the full five stars.
The smart #5 managed a respectable 88% in the adult occupant category but more than made up for that with an equal best 93% score in the child occupant category.
It performed exceptionally well in the vulnerable road users and safety assist categories too, 84% in the former making it the third best car for vulnerable road users, and 92% in the safety assist category the best score ever achieved, making it one of the highest scoring models overall.
The AION V, confirmed to be entering Europe at the IAA in Munich, also claimed the full five stars, matching the #5’s adult occupancy score of 88%, but only managing an average 85% score in the child occupant category.
A score of 79% in the vulnerable road users category is also distinctly average, as is 78% in the safety assist category, but regardless, with standard safety equipment, it’s enough for full marks.
The final Chinese car to achieve five stars this time, by the skin of its teeth according to EuroNCAP due to poor pelvis protection for pedestrians, was the Lynk & Co 08, which managed to get 90% and 87% scores respectively in the adult and child occupant categories.
Vulnerable road users was the area where the Lynk & Co 08 almost fell down, a 78% score just enough, while the safety assist category saw the 08 managed an 81% score.
The only Chinese car not to achieve the full five stars, and should consider itself lucky to get four, is the MG 3, which suffered a “rare and serious” seat failure never seen by EuroNCAP in the history of testing, in which the latching mechanism failed causing the seat to twist and applying “elevated forces” to the driver’s thigh.
EuroNCAP says their scoring mechanism doesn’t allow for a deduction or override in such cases, which will no doubt be something they consider in future, so in the meantime an adult occupant score of 74%, child occupant score of 73%, vulnerable road user score of 81%, and safety assist score of 69%, give the 3 a 4-star rating.
Editor’s comment
Since 2023, 35 Chinese cars have managed the full 5-star rating in EuroNCAP, with results spanning the organisation’s 2025, 2024, and 2023 standards.
Only four have lost the final star with both Chery and MG bearing two models each, which speaks to the impressive safety standards now being applied by all Chinese manufacturers and in particular the standard safety kit which has cost many cars a fifth star, since EuroNCAP tests the most basic variant available of each model.
Particularly impressive this time is the firefly’s best overall adult occupant score, which for a car just over 4-metres long is astounding. When we tested the firefly earlier this year, the brand was keen to point out how they had worked to exceed five-star requirements across the Chinese, European, and US testing standards, where different categories often have more or less stringent tests.
Demonstrating impressive safety scores is a sure fire way to break down the trust issues many potential consumers still have over Chinese cars and is a tactic Renault leveraged to great effect in the late 90s and early 00s. This could be a critical boost for firefly in their quest of European sales.
As a final note, I’m also impressed by the BYD Dolphin Surf achieving 5-stars, particularly since the extensive modifications it received for Europe were, according to a BYD representative I spoke to from another market, made simply to get the Dolphin Surf to a 4-star rating. Perhaps the fundamentals weren’t so bad after all.
