Thatcham has revealed the top 10 safest cars of 2017, with the finalists showing major leaps in collision avoidance technology.

Alfa Romeo Giulia is one of the 10 finalists for the What Car? Safety Award

The models, which make up the finalists for the What Car? Safety Award, meet award criteria including track-based testing of collision avoidance systems and achieving top marks in Euro NCAP crash tests. In addition, also vehicles must include AEB as standard and some form of Safety Assist technology beyond NCAP assessment such as lane keeping systems

The 2017 list covers:

 • Alfa Romeo Giulia

• Audi Q2

• Ford Edge

• Hyundai Ioniq

• Mercedes-Benz E-Class

• Peugeot 3008

• Renault Scenic

• Seat Ateca

• Toyota Prius

• VW Tiguan

All 2017 finalists feature Pedestrian, low speed City and high speed Inter-Urban AEB as standard. In addition, Lane Departure Warning is fitted on most of the top 10 as standard.

Thatcham added that the list shows the continued evolution of vehicle segments, with two hybrids in the top 10 as well as four small SUVs.

Thatcham Research chief executive Peter Shaw said: “These ten vehicles represent some of the safest cars on sale in the UK today, and we are delighted to see that by raising awareness of the important issues surrounding vehicle safety, manufacturers are starting to rise to our challenge of fitting safety as standard across all models, regardless of segment or price.”

The winner of the What Car? Safety Award 2017 will be announced on 11 January 2017.