All other Chinese cars tested got 5-stars, including reassessments for the Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8.

The Dongfeng Nammi Box scored just three stars in the latest round of EuroNCAP tests in a blow for the compact electric hatchback’s debut in the European market.

The hatchback, which will look to compete with the likes of the Renault 5 and BYD Seagull when wider sales begin in Europe, was found to have multiple spot weld failures in the frontal offset test, while there were also concerns over the airbag inflation and person-to-person contact in the side impact test.

The remaining five Chinese cars, plus the Deepal-based Mazda 6e, all achieved five-star ratings, helping to continue the strong form of China’s brands in recent tests, but the Nammi’s result puts a blot on the copybook.

Last month we saw NIO’s firefly, a smaller car than the Nammi Box, achieve the best adult occupancy score ever in a EuroNCAP test, but that was far from the case for Dongfeng’s small car, which instead achieved the worst score in the last five years.

The score of just 69% was the result of broken spot welds, an under-inflating airbag that caused the driver’s head to hit the steering wheel, heightened risk of occupant-to-occupant impact, and doors that didn’t unlock in an accident, as well as dashboard contact with driver’s knees.

It overshadows what were very decent results in the child occupancy and safety assist categories, although vulnerable road users were also found to be at greater risk in an impact with the Nammi Box, meaning it’s not good news for those inside or outside of the car.

MG’s MGS6 EV fared considerably better with one of the best adult occupancy scores in recent times at 92%, an important result for the brand after the ‘catastrophic’ failure of the MG3 last time out that controversially still warranted four stars.

It also performed strongly in the child occupancy category with a score of 85%, and in the vulnerable road users category with 84%, but the safety assist score was a more average 78%.

The MGS6’s SAIC stablemate, the IM5, managed the full five stars and a result predictably similar to that the IM6 SUV managed last time out, with 89% in the adult occupancy category and 85% in child occupancy.

It managed a couple more percentage points than the IM6 in the vulnerable road user category, with 85% placing it 4th on the all-time best scores list, while a safety assist score of 87% also carried it to 6th on the the corresponding rankings.

Hongqi’s more concerted push into Europe will kick off with the EHS5, which appears to be the Tiangong 06 from China, and it extends the brand’s five-star record to two cars with a reasonable adult occupancy score of 81%, and average child occupancy rating of 85%.

Vulnerable road users have less to be joyful about, the EHS5 managing just 74%, placing it near the bottom of cars tested recently, but the safety assist score of 82% helps make up some ground.

Chery’s staple SUVs, the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8, known as the Ebro S700 and S800 in some markets, have started to enter the European market and have now exchanged their four-star certificates for five-star ones after reassessment.

Both cars had suffered from poor results related to the rear curtain airbags which didn’t sufficiently protect children’s heads in a side-impact, but after the initial fix didn’t cure the issue, Chery “acted swiftly” to address the fault, redesigning the airbag completely and achieving the desired result when reassessed, a positive sign the brand is taking safety seriously.

That means that both models now boosted their adult occupancy scores to 82%, up one and two percent respectively, and their child occupancy scores to 85%, up from just 77% prior to the changes.

Their vulnerable road user and safety assist scores remain unchanged, sitting at 80% and 78% for the respective categories.

Finally, the Mazda 6e, not strictly a Chinese car but based on the Deepal SL03 that hasn’t been tested by EuroNCAP, managed a fantastic adult occupancy score of 93%, the fourth best score in 2025 testing, and a score that reinforces Deep’s efforts after the Deepal S07 achieved 95% in the 2024 ratings.

The child occupancy rating of 93% is equally impressive, equalling the best score achieved by four other models in 2025.

Sadly, vulnerable road users seem to have been given less consideration, the score of just 74% one of the lowest recorded in recent times, marginally beaten by the 77% score in the safety assist category which is very much in the average category.

Editor’s comment

After an excellent run of scores in recent tests, the Dongfeng Nammi Box’s three-star result is a big disappointment, particularly when brands like firefly and BYD have shown that small cars can achieve the full collection of stars and even the best adult occupancy rating ever.

It will likely lead Dongfeng to rush back to the drawing board and make significant changes to the car’s safety engineering with the aim of at least recovering one of the lost stars, which would at least bring it level with models like the Renault 5.

Seeing Chery take rapid action to rectify their own concessions on the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 models is both reassuring and a sign that Chinese brands are taking safety very seriously in their global adventures, so I’m very much looking to see if there will be a similar reaction from Dongfeng in the coming months.

Their failure does seem to be a harder one to fix quickly, but the Voyah Courage’s strong five-star score this year confirms they know what they’re doing, so let’s see how fast they can act.