Latin NCAP announces update to its assessment protocol

11.21.2025

Vehicle safety continues to evolve, and the New Car Assessment Programs (NCAP) protocols must also evolve to keep pace with the concept of "safer vehicles," especially in markets like Latin America and the Caribbean where regulations remain very weak.

The updated Latin NCAP protocol increases the requirements for vehicles to achieve higher star ratings and penalizes the lack of basic safety features, while maintaining the four main areas of assessment: 1) Adult Occupant Protection, 2) Child Occupant Protection, 3) Pedestrian Protection and 4) Vulnerable Road Users, and Safety Assist Systems. The updated protocol comes into effect on January 1, 2026 and will remain until the end of 2029. 

Updates in Adult Occupant Protection

In Adult Occupant Protection, the side impact and side pole impact tests are more severe, and a new dummy with better biofidelity is introduced (WSID). The side impact test is performed at a higher speed, 60 km/h, and uses a heavier impact barrier of 1400 kg. The side pole impact test is also performed at a higher speed, 32 km/h, and the pole impact angle is oblique at 75 degrees, presenting a more challenging scenario to ensure occupant safety.

Adult safety in the rear seat becomes part of the Adult Occupant Protection box, with the aim of driving urgent improvements in restraint systems, including the use of pretensioners and load limiters in rear seat belts. The evaluation of the rear seat in a whiplash scenario is added, expanding the assessment of adult rear seat protection to frontal, side, and rear impacts.

In vehicles with a higher center of gravity, roof resistance tests will be incorporated as exploratory and as additional information, without affecting the score. Latin NCAP is the only NCAP that applies this test, as well as the Moose test.

Assessments are being expanded to make post-crash rescue safer, more efficient and simpler. Difficulties in accessing the occupants after a crash such as door opening, seatbelt release, and lack of a rescue sheet are penalized, while technologies like emergency call (eCall) are rewarded.

Updates in Child Occupant Protection

The Child Occupant Protection assessment is being expanded to include older and larger children, a 10-year-old dummy for frontal and side impact tests, replacing the 18-month-old dummy in dynamic tests that has been showing a sustained good protection level even in challenging scenarios. The 18-month dummy is still considered for the full assessment of the vehicle. With the 10-year-old dummy, installed in a booster seat, child safety is assessed focusing on the quality of the vehicle’s restraint systems and the side head protection offered by those systems to children of that age and size. To encourage manufacturers to optimize the protection offered to the 10-year-old dummy, for the dynamic tests it will be installed without the booster seat back, thus removing the side impact protection provided by the child seat. This compels manufacturers to improve the vehicle’s front and side impact protection for both adult and child occupants in the rear seat.

The lack of ISOFIX and i-Size child seat anchorages, as well as the inability to deactivate the passenger airbag, will significantly reduce the chance of achieving acceptable scores. Child Occupant Detection systems will earn extra points, as they aim to prevent adults from leaving children unattended in the vehicle, exposing them to risks from extreme temperatures.

Updates in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users and Safety Assist

In the Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users (VRU) area, the performance requirement for passive safety is increased. The weighting of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) for VRU is also increased, and more demanding scenarios, such as pedestrian detection at night and cyclist detection, are included in the assessment.

In the Safety Assist Systems area, the speed requirements for the Moose test is increased, and failure in any of these tests at different speeds will result in penalty points deducted from Electronic Stability Control scoring. The assessment of low- and high-speed AEB and Lane Support Systems include more demanding scenarios in terms of test configuration. Blind Spot Detection (BSD) is evaluated in new scenarios, seeking the implementation of robust systems for this important technology.

Extra points are rewarded for models that offer technologies such as the alcohol detection interlock connector, driver monitoring system and advanced seat belt use warning systems. Models that do not offer systems such as speed limiters or maximum speed information systems, such as ISA, by scoring, will not be able to mathematically reach maximum star levels.

As with the previous protocol, good performance in all four evaluation areas simultaneously is necessary to achieve a high star rating. Poor performance in any one area results in a low rating, even if the other three areas perform well. The lowest-rated area is responsible for the vehicle’s overall star rating.

Latin NCAP results are not relevant just for those buying and driving the cars, it is important to everyone else around the vehicles, such as VRUs. Latin NCAP wants consumers to cycle, ride and walk in surrounded by five stars cars, with robust good performing technologies such AEBs, BSDs, and eventually good passive pedestrian protection.

FAQ

How long does the new Protocol last?

The new protocol starts at the beginning of 2026 until the end of 2029.

Do manufacturers know about the new Protocol?

The manufacturers know about the new Protocol, the first meetings on the direction of the new protocol began in 2021.

A vehicle assessed with the previous Protocol how many stars would it have with the new one?

It is not possible to generalize in this aspect and make a linear equivalence. It depends on how many stars it received in the previous protocol and how far the model exceeds the requirements of its safety systems. This update incorporates aspects that Latin NCAP did not previously evaluated, such as adult occupant protection in the rear seat and the safety rating of a 10-year-old dummy. To determine how many stars a model receives under the new Protocol, the full evaluation must be performed; although it may not be necessary to repeat all the tests already performed.

Are the results assessed with previous protocols still valid?

The results are valid as long as they are published on the Latin NCAP website and app. All published results indicate the year of the test and under which protocol it was evaluated. The star safety rating system continually evolves as new technologies are developed and are increasingly available. This means that tests are regularly updated, new tests are added to the system, and star levels are adjusted. For this reason, the test year is essential for a correct interpretation of the result.

Can manufacturers continue to use results for advertising evaluated under previous Protocols?

Manufacturers can use Latin NCAP results for advertising for limited time. A result prior to 2013 inclusive can be used for a maximum of 6 years (until the end of 2019). Vehicles evaluated from 2014 onwards can use the result for up to 4 years after the date of publication.