Ten of the safest cars on UK roads have been shortlisted by Thatcham Research for the What Car? Safety Award 2025.

The shortlist recognises the safest cars available in the UK

The vehicles were chosen by Thatcham Research, Euro NCAP and What Car? judges based on Euro NCAP safety test scores alongside other criteria such as expected market volume.

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) were also a big consideration, with judges looking at how accurate the systems were, how they provided information to the driver and whether they were implemented collaboratively.

The shortlist has been published a day after Euro NCAP revealed its Best-in-Class cars for 2024 and factors in the winners.

The shortlist

Audi Q6 e-tron

Judges’ comments: “The Q6 e-tron benefited from an excellent driver assistance system and collaborative lane keep assist. Driver information provided to the user was extremely intuitive. It was also the year’s highest scorer in Euro NCAP’s Child Occupant Protection tests.”

Mazda CX-80

Judges’ comments: “The CX-80 had good impact compatibility and vulnerable road user safety performance, especially for a large SUV.”

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Judges’ comments: “The E-Class was one of the top 2024 Euro NCAP performers. It also had a 100% displayed speed limit accuracy when tested by judges.”

Mini Countryman

Judges’ comments: “In addition to its strong safety performance, the Countryman offered a well-implemented intelligent speed assist system with excellent driver information including displaying the distance to upcoming speed limits.”

MG HS

Judges’ comments: “The HS offered a comprehensive driver assistance system as standard and is competitively priced, meaning more drivers are likely to benefit from its safety systems.”

Škoda Kodiaq

Judges’ comments: “The Kodiaq had an all-round well implemented driver assistance system. It also performed strongly in assessments of post-crash technologies such as eCall.”

Toyota C-HR

Judges’ comments: “The C-HR had a strong VRU safety performance and scored highest on Euro NCAPs vulnerable road user protection test.”

Volkswagen Passat

Judges’ comments: “The Passat had a very well-implemented driver assistance system and strong safety performance across the board. It also scored highest on Euro NCAP’s adult occupant safety test of the shortlisted vehicles.”

Volvo EX30

Judges’ comments: “The EX30 had one of the most capable direct driver monitoring systems of the shortlisted vehicles, being able to detect a range of distractions and sleep/microsleep scenarios.”

Xpeng G6

Judges’ comments: “The G6 delivered a good safety performance for a new market entrant, especially the direct driver monitoring and lane centring systems.”

The awards include a strong focus on the importance of ADAS implementation, as the technology continues to improve and set new performance standards across an increasingly exacting range of collision scenarios.

Thatcham Research said modern ADAS technology offers a range of safety benefits for drivers, whether through systems such as ISA keeping the driver informed of the local speed limit or AEB mitigating the risk of frontal collision.

Richard Billyeald, chief research and operations officer, added: “While it’s true that there is variation in implementation and that drivers will find some systems to be more intrusive than others, the fundamental objective of ADAS is to reduce crashes and save lives.

“There are many competing safety imperatives for carmakers to contend with, from designing front end structures that are compatible with other vehicles and consider vulnerable road user (VRU) safety to striking the right balance between achieving good ADAS performance during testing and in the real world. The good news is that the vehicles in the What Car? Safety Award shortlist broadly demonstrate that it is possible to implement ADAS effectively without compromising the driving experience.”

The winning vehicle will be announced next week at the What Car? Car of the Year Awards on Thursday 23 January.