Mazda 6e, Mercedes-Benz CLA the latest models to earn five-star safety ratings

The Mazda 6e electric liftback and Mercedes-Benz CLA mild-hybrid and electric sedan have both received five-star ratings from independent safety authority ANCAP.

These vehicles were crash-tested by Euro NCAP and assessed against ANCAP’s previous 2023-25 safety protocols, with the BMW iX3 – another five-star recipient – thus far the only vehicle to have been awarded a rating against stricter 2026 protocols.

The Mazda 6e received an adult occupant protection rating of 93 per cent, a child occupant protection rating of 93 per cent, a vulnerable road user protection rating of 74 per cent, and a safety assist rating of 79 per cent.

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ANCAP found protection of adult and child occupants was Good across most criteria, though it deemed protection of the driver's chest and lower legs in frontal offset testing to be Adequate, along with protection of the driver’s chest in both the full-width frontal and oblique pole tests.

Assessment of its suite of active safety and driver assist technology found a mixture of ratings, with the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system alone being deemed Good for avoiding collisions with other vehicles but Adequate for junction-crossing scenarios and Weak in head-on testing.

“We are extremely pleased that the Mazda 6e is backed by a five-star ANCAP safety rating – a significant endorsement of the engineering and technology that has gone into developing our first mainstream electric sedan,” said Mazda Australia’s national manager of product and business strategy, Daniel Wakelam, in a release.

The third-generation Mercedes-Benz CLA received an adult occupant protection rating of 94 per cent, a child occupant protection rating of 88 per cent, a vulnerable road user protection rating of 93 per cent, and a safety assist rating of 85 per cent.

Its overall five-star rating applies to the entire range, which includes not only mild-hybrid petrol-powered variants but also ones with electric powertrains.

As with the Mazda 6e, adult and child occupant protection assessment was full of Good ratings, though ANCAP noted Marginal protection for the driver’s chest in the oblique pole test and Adequate protection for the rear passenger’s chest in the full-width frontal test and the 10-year-old dummy’s head in the side impact test.

MORE: Explore the Mazda 6e showroom MORE: Explore the Mercedes-Benz CLA showroom

Originally published as Mazda 6e, Mercedes-Benz CLA the latest models to earn five-star safety ratings