Low side-impact performance and insufficient safety systems were two factors that contributed to this low score.
The Fiat Argo hatchback, and its sedan sibling the Fiat Cronos are both relatively new to the South Hemisphere’s motoring scene. The Argo was first introduced in 2017, followed by the Cronos one year later to service Latin American markets. However, crash-test news isn’t very good. After a series test by Latin NCAP both versions received a zero-star rating.
Poor crash performance is due to structural and technological weaknesses. The Fiat vehicles lack electronic stability control, which is a standard feature on many cars. Side airbags are not standard equipment which led to a poor showing.
The cars were tested for impact protection in impact testing. They were evaluated for side impact, frontal impact, whiplash and pedestrian protection. At best, they scored a low-to-average score in frontal protection. Latin NCAP reports that the Fiat twins had an instabile structure in frontal collisions. They also showed poor whiplash and side impact protection.
The protection of pedestrians was also low. This is because there aren’t any standard automatic braking mechanisms. Although the report highlighted “decent” protection of children, it was not marked according to Latin NCAP requirements. The pedestrian protection for the Argos and Cronos was actually the lowest since Latin NCAP started tracking this metric in 2020.
Latin NCAP had to revise its 2019 Argo/Cronos model rating after the zero-star rating. The previous rating was three stars for adults and four stars for children. The rating was reduced to zero stars for adult occupants following the audit.
Stephan Brodziak, Latin NCAP Chairman, stated that if the Fiat Argo/Cronos had not been tested, we wouldn’t know the low safety it offers its customers as well as all those who live on the streets with the vehicle. Fiat has added another car of low safety to the list of vehicles that fail to adequately protect road users. We call Fiat to make the shift to safer cars.