Vehicle safety
Audi invests in the development of new and improved vehicle safety features and works to high standards with the aim of protecting vehicle occupants and other road users. The company’s active and passive safety technologies can make a significant contribution to reducing the risk of accidents and injuries.
Vehicle safety has been a high priority at Audi for some time.
As early as 1938, engineers of DKW, one of the four founding brands of today’s AUDI AG, conducted rollover and side-impact tests with DKW models. These were among the first systematic crash tests in the history of the automobile. Active and passive vehicle safety are still clearly in focus today.
Active vehicle safety
Experts consider “active safety” to be all elements in a vehicle that can help prevent an accident. In addition to the suspension, tires, braking system and lighting technology, such elements include assistance functions that provide early warning of potential hazards, issue a warning in the event of acute danger and, if the driver does not react in time, also automatically initiate emergency braking or an emergency steering maneuver.
Passive vehicle safety
"Passive safety” describes elements that can reduce the risk of injury or eliminate it entirely, for example: seat belts, airbags, stable passenger compartments and energy-dissipating vehicle structures. In the field of passive safety, around 220 specialists at Audi perform more than 800 elaborate crash tests and around 20,000 virtual accident simulations every year and work continuously on new and enhanced safety functions.
Awards from consumer protection organizations:
top scores from Euro NCAP and IIHS
Audi endeavors at all times to achieve the best possible endorsement from external consumer protection organizations in the various core markets (e.g., IIHS (USA), China NCAP, Euro NCAP). The awards received are testament to the success achieved through decades of experience, research and development: In the Euro NCAP, almost all Audi models tested since 2009 – including all electric models – have received the top score of five stars.(Source: Euro NCAP | Latest Safety Ratings)
Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Programme) is a Europe-wide test program that assesses the safety of new cars in realistic accident scenarios. Audi continued the success series in 2025: The Audi A3, Audi Q3, Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi Q5 and Audi A6 e-tron product lines all received a five-star rating.(Source: Euro NCAP: Euro NCAP test results: Audi A3 , Audi Q3 , Audi Q4 e-tron , Audi Q5 , Audi A6 e-tron)
Audi also made an impression in the USA: In 2025, the Audi A5, Audi A6 e-tron, Audi Q5, Audi Q6 e-tron and Audi Q7 SUV product lines were presented with the “Top Safety Pick+ Award” by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).(Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2025 TOP SAFETY PICKs)
Euro NCAP test results 2025
Current figures
Around
20,000
virtual accident simulations per year
More than
800
crash tests for the further development of passive safety functions
Future-proof: new Audi Vehicle Safety Center since 2023
The investment in the new Audi Vehicle Safety Center (AFZ) in Ingolstadt is paying off: Numerous models have been homologated here since November 2023. The AFZ is one of the most important Audi development facilities in the field of passive safety. Experienced teams of experts carry out one to two crash tests per day, five days a week
Active contribution: Audi Accident Research Unit
In addition to the new and further development of its active and passive vehicle safety systems, AUDI AG also contributes actively to accident research with the Audi Accident Research Unit (AARU); an interdisciplinary research project in collaboration with the University Medical Center in Regensburg. The AARU is committed to better understanding the causes, circumstances and consequences of accidents in order to develop proposals and measures to enhance road safety. Audi shares these findings with authorities and public organizations and also uses them to develop new models.
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