Dec. 28, 2018—The new Jeep JL received just a one-star rating in European NCAP crash tests, according to a report by caranddriver.com.
The new Jeep Wrangler had been redesigned, but in the Euro NCAP crash tests, it performed poorly in tests into a front offset deformable barrier at 40 mph; into a full-width rigid barrier at 31 mph, into a side-impact mobile barrier at 31 mph, as well as whiplash tests that measure pedestrians’ potential head and leg injuries.
The new Wrangler received a top score in the side barrier test and was rated good for whiplash protection, caranddriver.com reported, but it fared poorly in the frontal crash tests. Euro NCAP noted that the Wrangler provided only marginal protection for passengers’ body area, chest, and neck.
In a statement, FCA spokesperson Eric Mayne defended the new Wrangler’s safety elements, and said testing protocols that apply exclusively to urban scenarios may not align with a vehicle that’s engineered to provide top performance under the most demanding conditions, according to the caranddriver.com report.
U.S. crash results for the Wrangler have yet to be released.