Q&A with Max Mosley, Global NCAP (GNCAP) Chairman

06.13.2012

What is the role of GNCAP?

Consumer information has been a powerful driver of improved automobile safety over the last thirty years. Crash tests carried out by New Car Assessment Programme have created a market for safety in which car buyers can choose much safer vehicles. This has given manufacturers the incentive to compete for sales by offering models with good protection in a crash. As the global vehicle fleet is set to double in the next ten years, we need to help consumers around the world make informed choices when they buy new cars.

 

What are GNCAP’s priorities at the moment?

We are helping launch new NCAPs in regions of the world experiencing rapid growth in motor vehicle use. In South America, for example, where the most popular cars sold today are still about twenty years behind the levels of safety enjoyed in Europe and North America, we are supporting Latin NCAP. So far the results show that the Latin American market is dominated by ‘one star’ cars. But we know that car makers can do much better than that. In Europe and elsewhere ‘five star’ cars are now available in all vehicle classes, small, medium and large. We believe that consumer demand will grow for safer vehicles once car buyers are aware of the different levels of safety that can be available. That is what Latin NCAP is now doing for motorists and their families in South America.

 

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