Ever safer vehicles for fleets
The Latin American and Caribbean markets are among the most dynamic and important for small and medium pickup trucks.
Due to its versatility and reliability, this type of vehicle plays a fundamental role in both the fleet sector and the private sector, making it necessary to assess and improve the safety of its occupants and vulnerable road users.
As part of the current evaluation protocol, which ends in December 2025, Latin NCAP evaluated seven models of pickup trucks sold in the region: the mid-size Mitsubishi L200/Triton, the Ford Nueva Ranger, the Volkswagen Amarok and the Great Wall Motors Wingle 5, as well as the small Chevrolet Montana and Fiat Strada, as well as its corporate twin, the RAM 700.
Two of these models, the L200/Triton and the New Ranger, achieved five stars. Previous versions of these models were rated worse by Latin NCAP and were voluntarily improved by the manufacturers who achieved the highest rating.
This shows not only the importance that these vehicles in the fleet have for regular consumers, but also the importance that fleet managers place on safety in their purchasing decisions.
The results of the 2019 Nissan Frontier/Navara/NP300 and Toyota Hilux, both evaluated under the previous, less demanding protocols, are no longer valid for use by manufacturers for marketing purposes and could not match or demonstrate to consumers and fleet managers that they can achieve maximum safety performance using the current Latin American NCAP protocol, as Mitsubishi and Ford have done.
The Great Wall Motors Wingle 5’s inadequate safety and performance features are at odds with what the manufacturer sells in other markets or even within its own fleet of newer models.
At the same time, in relatively new markets, such as the Asian market, more and more better-equipped models are being produced, although their actual safety performance still needs to be proven through independent crash tests in the Latin NCAP.
These results, published by Latin NCAP, gain in light of the recent study “Saving Lives Beyond 2025:
“Advancing Road Safety, Recommendations of the Academic Expert Group for the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety”, which highlights that around 400,000 deaths, or a third of all road deaths worldwide, are due to workplace accidents and that 92% of all road deaths worldwide occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Particularly in Latin American and Caribbean countries, where driving conditions, vehicle safety, road user behavior and infrastructure present different challenges than in more developed markets, fleet managers and commercial users now have the choice of premium mid-size pickup trucks in accordance with the latest Latin American NCAP protocol.
Small pick-up trucks
Smaller pickup trucks based on a unibody platform rather than a chassis body were also evaluated and rated, such as the Fiat Strada (best-selling model in Brazil), its corporate twin, the RAM 700, and the Chevrolet Montana.
Unfortunately, none of them offer advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), not even as an optional option.
While the Chevrolet Montana proved that maximum passive safety can be provided through six standard airbags, including curtain airbags, and a stable structure; The side head and thorax airbags of the Strada/700 in the crew cab version did not provide basic protection in the event of a side pole impact.
The complete lack of side airbags in the equally popular single-cab version of the Fiat Strada/RAM 700, as well as the structural instability and lack of safety features in many other areas of the assessment, further increase the risk of life-threatening injuries to the occupants of these vehicles.
Aspects to highlight
It can provide work and commercial fleets with maximum safety: medium and small trucks can provide five-star safety performance. Work vehicles can also offer the highest level of safety.
The Ranger, L200/Triton and Amarok achieved the top rating for passive safety for adult occupants, children and vulnerable road users in the midsize pickup truck segment.
The Chevrolet Montana also offers a safe option in the small pickup truck segment with maximum passive safety.
Market relevance: In 2024, more than one million pickup trucks were sold in 17 markets in Latin America and the Caribbean, representing 18.4% of total sales.
In terms of sales volume, the pickup truck market accounted for 19.4% and 26.7% in Brazil and Argentina in 2024, respectively. The small and medium-sized pickup truck market grew by more than 7% between 2023 and 2024.
There are no excuses for not protecting vulnerable road users: Even in vehicles where protecting pedestrians and vulnerable road users (VRU) is difficult, the L200 and Ranger performed well in VRU protection by combining ADAS and passive pedestrian safety.
Anticipate and prevent accidents: The Ford Ranger and Mitsubishi L200/Triton are leaders in the availability of high-performance ADAS systems in this segment.
ADAS technologies that help save lives and reduce costs, such as: Additional features, such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane assist systems (LSS) and blind spot detection (BSD), are widely available in all markets where these vehicles are sold, with good performance and increasing fleet integration.
The Amarok, which offers forward collision warning without braking functionality, is useful in some situations but needs improvement to implement active ADAS systems.
Data-backed evidence: 400,000 deaths, or a third of all road deaths worldwide, occur in workplace accidents.
This includes all fatalities in which at least one of the people involved in the accident was working, be it as a driver, passenger or pedestrian, including road workers.
Latin NCAP recommendations
Vehicle safety must be a key element of a safe working environment, both in the public and private sectors. For information about purchasing public or private fleets, see Global NCAP’s Fleet Safety Guide and Safer Purchasing Policy 2025-2026.
Avoid purchasing vehicles that are not rated by the local NCAP (Latin NCAP for Latin America and the Caribbean) and choose the highest star rating if possible.
For a safer fleet, purchase passenger vehicles with five stars in the Latin NCAP, three-point seat belts and head restraints on all seats, and at least two front airbags, two side airbags and two side curtain airbags (also known as curtain airbags).
Also buy models that offer pedestrian protection, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), ISOFIX anchors and Intelligent Speed Assistant (ISA). If available, include AEB, LSS and BSD technologies.
In order to prevent fatal traffic accidents and injuries to employees and third parties, the Academic Expert Group of the IV World Ministerial Conference on Transport Safety recommends that the automotive sector manufacture and market the safest possible vehicles for commercial and fleet purposes and market vehicles with the highest safety performance for all global markets.
And subject vehicles marketed for commercial or fleet use to testing in independent consumer testing programs such as Latin NCAP to inform organizational buyers of the safety performance of their products.