Shortly after its world premiere at the British International Motor Show in London, the new Opel Corsa is already one of the top models in its class when it comes to safety. The independent Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Programme) awarded the Corsa a maximum score of five stars for passenger safety.
The Corsa's good results in the demanding test programme were rounded off with three stars for both child passenger protection and pedestrian protection.
Hans Demant, managing director, Adam Opel GmbH and vice-president Engineering, GM Europe, said: "We are very pleased to receive this recognition of Opel's commitment to safety management.
"However, our good performance in the crash tests is only one part of our intensive development work. Preventing accidents, for example, through advanced chassis concepts or innovations like Adaptive Forward Lighting, is just as important to us.
"The main focus of our passive safety research is the best possible protection of passengers, pedestrians and other road users in all accident situations."
The integral safety system in the new Corsa is based on decades of research and development by safety engineers in Rüsselsheim. All relevant active and passive safety systems that contribute to reducing dangers during driving or in a real-life collision are categorised by Opel under one heading - SAFETEC.
Passive safety features to protect the driver and passengers in the new Corsa include: optimised crash zones and restraint systems, two-stage front airbags, which inflate to a level corresponding to the severity of the impact; side airbags for driver and front passenger; pyrotechnic seat belt tensioners; and the patented Pedal Release System (PRS), which decouples the pedals in a severe frontal impact to further protect the driver's feet from injury.
The ISOFIX system ensures optimal anchorage of baby carriers and child seats, and there is an optical and acoustic warning signal for the driver's seat to help ensure the safety belt is used.
Accident prevention features include the advanced chassis and highly developed support functions, like ABS and ESP, as well as innovative lighting systems, such as headlamps that illuminate around bends to support the driver.
Adaptive brake lights that pulse five times per second when braking with ABS to warn drivers behind, or hazard warning lights that activate automatically if the airbags are set off, help protect other road users.
The new Opel Corsa can be viewed at United Automobile Ltd's showroom in Abate Rigord Street, Ta' Xbiex, tel: 2132-0560/3.