Volvo Car has confidently claimed the S40 sedan +óGé¼GÇ£ despite its compact dimensions +óGé¼GÇ£ provides a high level of occupant protection equal to or exceeding that of the larger Volvo S80 sedan.

The S40 was recently evaluated by four independent crash tests (two European and two American) with the test results clearly confirming the Volvo S40 provides very efficient occupant protection in most crash situations.

• Five-star rating in the Euro-NCAP
• Double "five" rating in the US-NCAP side impact
• Best Pick from the US-based IIHS frontal impact test
• Declared "One of the Best" regarding whiplash protection by the Swedish National Road Administration and insurance company Folksam

Five stars in Euro-NCAP
Euro-NCAP crashes in frontal offset impact situations (64 km/h), side impact against another vehicle which is simulated (50 km/h) and a side impact against a pole (29 km/h). Currently, the top Euro-NCAP score is a "five stars" rating.

A year ago the Volvo XC90 became the first SUV to be awarded five stars by Euro-NCAP, and now this has also been given to Volvo's new S40 compact sedan.

Five stars in US-NCAP
The US traffic safety administration runs its "New Car Assessment Program", NCAP, a side impact in which the results of the driver and the rear seat passenger on the impact side are evaluated. Also here, the Volvo S40 scored full marks, five stars for the front seat occupant and five stars for the rear seat occupant.

"Best Pick" by IIHS
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS) in the United States tested the Volvo S40 in a frontal impact from a speed of 64 km/h (40 mph). Three categories were evaluated:

• The ability of the structural design to withstand deformation of the passenger compartment
• Injuries to the front seat occupants
• The protective level of safety belts and airbags

The Volvo S40 performed extremely well in all three categories and received the "Best Pick" in its class.

Best protective seat against whiplash according to joint survey
The Swedish National Road Administration and large insurance company Folksam have jointly issued the results from a thorough crash tests survey. In this survey, the protective capability of car seats with regard to the risk for whiplash injuries in rear end impacts was evaluated.

The Volvo S40 is one of four cars considered to have the best seats from a protective point of view, based on analyses of the three crashes made with every seat type. This is a true acknowledgment of Volvo's WHIPS (Whiplash Protection System) which has been a standard safety feature of all Volvo cars for years.

"Crash tests and these kinds of surveys can only take one or few aspects of a vehicle's overall safety level into account. Still they give you an indication of the safety level," says Ingrid Skogsmo, head of the Safety Centre at Volvo Cars.

"We have communicated the new Volvo S40 as a very safe car, and this is now being confirmed by independent research. Of course, this is very encouraging, but we will, however, continue to work along our guiding principle when it comes to safety; to continue to enhance overall occupant protection in real life accidents," she concludes.

More than 30 years ago, in 1970, Volvo formed the Volvo Accident Investigation Team. The idea of collecting data from actual impacts was a revolutionary approach to safety research. The team is the first of its kind, and to date the team has investigated and studied more than 20,000 crashes. This actual crash data is then used to advance the in-built occupant safety in Volvo cars.

The previous S40 (launched in 1995) received the maximum grading of four stars from a possible four stars. Euro-NCAP changed from a four-star to a five-star grading in 2000.

www.euroncap.com
www.hwysafety.org

Chronology of Volvo Safety
1944 +óGé¼GÇ£ Laminated windshields installed 15 years before mandatory
1958 +óGé¼GÇ£ Three-point shoulder/lap seat belt patented by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin
1959 +óGé¼GÇ£ Three-point shoulder/lap
1960 +óGé¼GÇ£ Padded instrument panel installed
1966 +óGé¼GÇ£ Crumple zone crash technology
1967 +óGé¼GÇ£ Three-point seat belts included in rear outboard seats
1969 +óGé¼GÇ£ Three-point inertia-reel safety belts
1970 +óGé¼GÇ£ Formation of world's first automobile crash investigation team
1984 +óGé¼GÇ£ Anti-lock brakes (ABS) installed
1987 +óGé¼GÇ£ Three-point seat belts included in rear centre seat
1991 +óGé¼GÇ£ Integrated rear-seat child booster cushion introduced
1992 +óGé¼GÇ£ Side impact structure installed five years before mandatory
1995 +óGé¼GÇ£ World's first Side Impact Air Bags introduced
1998 +óGé¼GÇ£ Inflatable Curtain debuts on S80 and quickly introduced as a standard safety feature on all Volvo models
1999 +óGé¼GÇ£ Volvo opens the Volvo Safety Centre (world's most advanced vehicle crash laboratory) and conducts approximately 400 impact tests per year
2000 +óGé¼GÇ£ Whiplash Protection System (WHIPS) introduced
2003 +óGé¼GÇ£ XC90 is first SUV with Rollover Protection System (ROPS) and Roll Stability Control (RSC)
2003 +óGé¼GÇ£ Pyrotechnic lap belt and pyrotechnic shoulder belt pretensioner introduced on new S40
2003 +óGé¼GÇ£ IDIS (Intelligent Driver Information System) a standard feature on S40/V50
2004 +óGé¼GÇ£ BLIS introduced +óGé¼GÇ£ camera-based monitoring system to eliminate 'blind spot' (available as an option in 2005)
2004 +óGé¼GÇ£ Inflatable Curtain (IC) for convertibles revealed

For further information please contact:
Todd Hallenbeck
Public Affairs Manager
Volvo Car Australia
Phone: 02-9020 1613
Mobile: 0412 259 635
Fax: 02-9020 1597
Email: thallen2@volvocars.com

Christer Gustafsson
Corporate Public Affairs
Volvo Car Corporation
0011-46-31-59-6525