The recently launched Jeep Compass has just been awarded a 5-star rating under Europe’s New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP).

Classified as a small off-road vehicle, the Compass scored a high 90 percent on adult occupant protection and 83 percent on child safety. Pedestrian safety is rated at 64 percent while Safety Assist is rated at 59 percent.

A European-spec left-hand-drive model was used for the test, which came with a 2.0-litre diesel engine, a 4x4 driveline, featured eight airbags and came with an autonomous braking system.

According to the vehicle safety watchdog, the SUV’s passenger compartment remained stable in the frontal offset test and dummy readings indicated good protection of the knees and thighs of both the driver and passenger. Also, impact protection of the driver and front passenger was good for all critical body areas. However, in the full-width rigid-barrier test, while protection of the driver was good, the chest protection for the rear passenger was rated as marginal. Tests on the seats and head restraints demonstrated good protection for occupants against whiplash injury in the event of a rear-end collision.

The safety ratings are not reflective of the Indian-made Jeep Compass which is a right-hand-drive model and comes with a different safety equipment list; it gets six airbags and comes without the autonomous braking feature.

Jeep launched the Compass in India towards the end of July and the SUV has already clocked over 10,000 bookings. Consequently, FCA India is to ramp up production at its Ranjangaon plant, with two shifts working six days a week to cope with the demand. The Compass is Jeep’s first locally assembled model and features a  high level (65 percent) of localisation.