Citroen C4 misses full safety marks as GWM improves

Monday, 29 November 2021

The Citroen C4 scored four of five stars in a recent Ancap test.

Citroen’s new C4 has been put through its paces safety-wise at ANCAP, which found that it “fell short” in three out of four key assessment areas, dropping its total mark to four out of five stars.

ANCAP awarded the C4 cores of 76 per cent for Adult Occupant Protection (AOP), 81 per cent for Child Occupant Protection (COP), 57 per cent for Vulnerable Road User Protection (VRUP) and 62 per cent for Safety Assist. Child Occupant Protection was the only assessment area in which the C4 was awarded all five stars.

According to the safety outfit, a key area for improving the C4 is far-side impact protection, which has been required by Ancap since 2020.

Typically, this is offered in the form of a centre airbag in small cars like the C4, and without this feature, or other appropriate design countermeasures, the Citroen scored just 0.12 points out of 4.00 points in this area of assessment.

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“Achieving the highest level of safety in ANCAP assessments is not a simple task, yet it is clear through the star rating results we continue to see from the vast majority of brands that collectively the ambition exists to supply the safest vehicles possible,” said ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

“The safety performance of the C4 suggests the same level of ambition shown by many of its competitors was not a focus for Citroen with this particular model.”

“It is likely that with some small enhancements, Citroen could see the C4 elevated to five stars, and we would strongly encourage Citroen to consider introducing such improvements.”

GWM’s Cannon ute has also been tested, with all models built from 1 August 2021 now coming with five-star ratings.

Some deficiencies with the front head restraint and steering column in models built between September 2020 and 31 July 2021 have been rectified, meaning the ute is in the same safety park as the new Toyota Hilux, Mazda BT-50 and Isuzu D-Max.

“GWM has shown its willingness and strong commitment to providing its customers with the highest levels of safety by swiftly incorporating improvements to address deficiencies in existing vehicles and as a result, Australian and New Zealand consumers are being supplied with a safer vehicle,” Hoorweg added.

If you own an earlier Cannon, GWM is working to rectify the safety issues in Australia. We contacted GWM NZ to ask if the same was happening here, but have yet to hear back.