Peter Lyon
April 12, 2025
Chinese cars have come a long way from the days when their safety levels were questioned. The European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) and the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), which exchange testing data and procedures, have both just awarded the Geely EX5 and BYD Sealion 7 a five-star safety rating.
Euro NCAP rated the Geely EX5 at 86% for adult occupant protection, 87% for child protection, 83% for vulnerable road user protection (includes pedestrians and cyclists), and 83% for safety assist, which refers to a car’s driver-assistance and crash-avoidance technologies. Its safety assist category scored a slightly higher 85%.
The Geely EX5 displayed metal tearing and weld detachment around the base of the A-pillar in the Euro NCAP frontal offset test.
The EX5’s Malaysia equivalent—the Proton eMAS 7—does not have a center airbag, which is a feature of the EX5 that was tested here.
However, in 2024, the Proton eMAS 7 achieved the highest ASEAN NCAP score ever, rated at 92.57 points and earning a complete five-star ASEAN NCAP safety rating.
Sealion 7 captures high ratings for child protection
According to Euro NCAP testing, the BYD Sealion 7 received ratings of 87% for adult protection, 93% for child protection, 76% for protecting vulnerable road users, and 79% for safety assist. The Sealion 7 ANCAP score was almost identical, except for the safety assist category, where it scored a slightly lower 78%.
While Euro NCAP data suggested the BYD Sealion 7 offered good structural integrity in a frontal collision, it also highlighted a weakness. The full-width rigid barrier test showed poor protection of the rear passenger’s chest, based on crash dummy compression measurements.
In addition to the brand’s advanced driver safety assistance systems (ADAS), such as ACC, AEB, FCW, and LDW, the Sealion 07 has nine airbags. However, intelligent torque adaptation control (ITAC), a feature found on the Malaysian Performance model, is absent from the Australian version of the Sealion 7 Performance.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
As I wrote in the opening sentence, many punters will be glad to see that, given the growing popularity of Chinese EVs, safety levels have improved substantially. As we see here, some models offer 5-star ratings, while we can expect to see more BYD and Geely models delivering such high levels in the near future.
