Euro NCAP is a voluntary vehicle safety rating system created by the Swedish Road Administration, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and International Consumer Research & Testing, backed by fourteen members, and motoring and consumer organisations in several EU countries.

[6] The programme is modelled after the New Car Assessment Program, introduced 1979 by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

[9] In Europe, new cars are certified as legal for sale under the Whole Vehicle Type Approval regimen that differs from Euro NCAP.

Test results are commonly presented by motor press, and in turn, greatly influence consumer demand for a vehicle.

One notable example of this is the Rover 100 (an update of a 1980 design, first marketed as an Austin), which after receiving a one-star Adult Occupant Rating in the tests in 1997, suffered from poor sales and was withdrawn from production soon afterwards.

[12] BMW's 2007 Mini had its bonnet and headlamp fixture changed to meet the latest pedestrian safety requirements.

[13] In 2017, to celebrate Euro NCAP's 20th anniversary, they tested a 1997 Rover 100 and 2017 Honda Jazz under the same frontal offset conditions to demonstrate how far safety has come in Europe.

[17] A deformable barrier is mounted on a trolley and is driven at 60 km/h (37 mph) into the side of the stationary test vehicle at a right angle.

[20] If the vehicle is equipped with centre airbags then a co-driver (front passenger) is added in either the mobile side impact or the pole test to evaluate its effectiveness.

[30] The results are grouped into 13 increasingly demanding classes:[31][32][28][33] There is a different quadricycle rating for four-wheeled micro cars.