Chery has announced that the Omoda C5 — the first vehicle from the brand to be tested by Euro NCAP — has been awarded top honours for safety, with the South African-bound crossover scoring an overall rating of five stars. According to the firm, the Omoda C5 met the highest active and passive safety standards during the crash tests.

“The Omoda C5’s crash-test performance is significant in many respects,” said Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery South Africa. “For one, it is a firm endorsement of Chery’s commitment to vehicle safety and the safety and security of its passengers. For another, it offers independent validation of the quality of engineering and manufacturing of Chery vehicles. After all, safety starts with the vehicle design and is directly dependent on build quality.”

“For Chery, safety is not negotiable. This means that all our models, from the Tiggo 4 Pro [read our in-depth review here] to the upcoming Omoda C5, offer a very high level of safety features as standard and why families can safely trust their Chery to keep them safe around town and on longer trips,” Liu added.

So, how did it do in the respective categories? For starters, the Omoda C5 scored 87 per cent in adult-occupant protection. The same score was given for the crossover for child protection. Regarding the efficacy of its safety assistance systems, the Omoda C5 scored 88 per cent.

As standard, the Omoda C5 features an additional airbag between the driver and the front passenger. Sixteen driver-assistance systems, including adaptive cruise control, are also present.