What are the safest cars you can buy in 2025?
Buying a new car based on its safety rating is never a bad move. Occupant and road user safety is one of the most important things to consider when buying a car. We take a look at the top 10 safest cars on sale in South Africa at the moment based on the Euro NCAP ratings.
Safety ranks high on the priority list of many new car shoppers. Whether it's a concern for personal safety or that of your loved ones, allowing occupant and road user safety should always help guide your buying decision. Manufacturers spend millions developing safety systems and engineering safer vehicles, knowing it is paramount to their customers. Not all cars are equal, though, despite the average safety of motor vehicles having improved significantly over the last few decades.
Related: Which affordable small car is the safest in South Africa?
South Africa doesn't have a dedicated system for testing every vehicle on sale in South Africa. Instead, we must cast our eyes abroad to institutions specialising in crash tests and safety assessments. One such institution is the Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), one of the oldest operations focussing on independently testing new motor vehicles. Several others, some aligned with the Euro NCAP methodologies and others that rate cars on their scale. Some of these are the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), Bharat New Car Assessment Program (BNCAP), and Global NCAP, amongst others.
Safest Cars in South Africa
A simple Google search for the safest cars in South Africa will be a little misleading, listing the 4-star Volkswagen Polo Vivo as one of them. The fact is that there are several cars for sale in South Africa that do score a full 5 stars in the Euro NCAP, but the Polo Vivo, as it is unique to South Africa, isn't part of their data set. Several cars in South Africa will meet the 5-star rating, but Euro NCAP hasn't tested that as they are unavailable in Europe. Thus, this list will have a few omissions.
Euro NCAP is trusted to be the benchmark, with the most stringent testing parameters. Others are tailored for their respective markets. We've compiled a list of the 10 safest cars tested by Euro NCAP over the last three years, the only vehicles sold in South Africa. It's important to note that the best efforts have been made to ensure that the tested vehicles' specifications match what is available locally. For example, the Honda CR-V is available in Europe with Sensing 360, which is not available locally.
The results give an overall rating of 5 stars and percentage scores for Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection (cyclists and pedestrians), and a rating on the Safety Assistance Systems.
1. Lexus RX
Test Date: 2023
Stars: 5
Adult: 90
Child: 87
VRU: 89
SAS: 91
2. Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Test date: 2024
Stars: 5
Adult: 92
Child: 90
VRU: 84
SAS: 87
3. Lexus NX
Test Date: 2022
Stars: 5
Adult: 91
Child: 87
VRU: 83
SAS: 91
4. GWM Ora 03
Test Date: 2023
Stars: 5
Adult: 92
Child: 93
VRU: 74
SAS: 93
5. Mercedes-Benz EQE Sedan
Test Date: 2023
Stars: 5
Adult: 95
Child: 91
VRU: 83
SAS: 81
6. Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Test Date: 2023
Stars: 5
Adult: 93
Child: 89
VRU: 80
SAS: 82
7. Mazda CX-60
Test Date: 2023
Stars: 5
Adult: 88
Child: 91
VRU: 89
SAS: 76
8. BMW X1
Test Date: 2023
Stars: 5
Adult: 86
Child: 89
VRU: 76
SAS: 92
9. Mercedes EQE SUV
Test Date: 2023
Stars: 5
Adult: 87
Child: 90
VRU: 80
SAS: 85
10. Porsche Macan
Test Date: 2024
Stars: 5
Adult: 90
Child: 90
VRU: 83
SAS: 78
