These days almost all new cars are designed to achieve EuroNCAP’s five-star rating, so it’s not a big deal. But in the case of the new Ford B-MAX, it kinda is, because for one thing Ford cannot stop boasting about this car, and it has an Easy Access Door System with integrated B-pillar, which could affect the rating.

But it hasn’t, and the B-MAX is now officially a five-star car. The compact multi-activity vehicle achieved an overall protection score of 83 per cent, after scoring 93 per cent for adult protection and 84 per cent for child protection.

The result was not surprising to Ford at least, as they did  more than 5,000 computer simulated crash tests during development,  no less than 40 complete crash tests and a further 100 tests which involved the car being mounted on a sled and fired into a barrier.

In terms of safety features, the B-MAX is equipped with seven airbags and the front-end is carefully engineered for optimised pedestrian protection. It also features Ford’s Active City Stop system – a segment-first designed to help motorists avoid low speed collisions with stationary or slower moving traffic. The car also has Ford’s voice-activated, in-car connectivity system, SYNC, with Emergency Assistance.