BYD on Wednesday received a coveted five-star Euro NCAP safety rating for its electric ATTO 3 crossover SUV, the latest Chinese carmaker to receive top marks as it seeks to gain a foothold in Europe’s competitive car market.
Two other China-made cars — the eCitroënC5 X, built by a joint venture between Stellantis and Dongfeng, and the Mobilize Limo, an electric sedan made by Renault together with Jiangling Motors — received four-star ratings.
Ratings from the European New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) are not binding, as it does not certify vehicles for road use. But European consumers pay attention to Euro NCAP’s safety tests and carmakers aggressively market good ratings.
Last month Great Wall Motor received five-star ratings for its WEY brand Coffee 01 hybrid SUV and its ORA brand Funky Cat electric sedan.
Among the other cars receiving a five-star rating Wednesday was Mercedes-Benz’s EQE electric sedan.
The vehicle’s driver assistance system — including one that moves the car to the slowest lane on a highway and brings it to a halt if the driver becomes unresponsive — made it the highest-scoring car so far for assisted-driving functions, Euro NCAP said.
Amid a wider global push, the Chinese carmaker which has already started selling electric cars and plug-in electric hybrids in markets around the world, including Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, Costa Rica and Colombia.
Earlier this week BYD launched the ATTO 3 in India, which sells in China as the Yuan Plus.
Last week, German car rental company Sixt said it has committed to buying around 100,000 electric vehicles from BYD in the coming years.
Earlier this year, BYD said it would start selling its passenger electric vehicles in Japan from 2023 and also has plans to set up a facility in Thailand — its latest among 30 others in the United States, Brazil and India — to produce 150,000 cars a year from 2024. It launched the Atto 3 electric SUV in Thailand on Monday.
The Shenzhen-based auto and battery producer has capacity to produce 10,000 units a year at its southern India plant where it will assemble the Atto 3.