​The safety of your car isn’t something we like to think about. We fasten our seatbelts, drive as carefully as possible, and usually we make it to our destination without incident.

But accidents do happen. Almost all of us will know someone who has been involved in a serious car crash, but thankfully, the number of road casualties is on a downward trend, largely because of better protection from the cars we drive. 

For GWM ORA, ensuring your family is protected is a vital part of the brand’s promise. The company doesn’t think that the latest safety kit and high-quality engineering should be limited to an options list or just the biggest cars in the range. And this philosophy has been rewarded by the independent organisation which assesses new cars by putting them through gruelling tests.

EuroNCAP has been rating the safety credentials of vehicles since 1997 and has tested more than 1,800 new cars to destruction. Each is given a star rating, out of five. This is determined from scores in a series of tests which reflect real-life accident scenarios that could result in injuries to the car’s occupants or other road users.

In addition to the dramatic tests where cars are smashed into barriers and poles to see how the bodyshell and airbags protect the passengers, EuroNCAP also includes the gadgets which help you avoid an accident in the first place. There are the devices such as anti-lock braking which we are all used to, but the organisation also expects technology which detects driver inattention or can apply the brakes if the car in front stops unexpectedly.

Cars which achieve the full five-star rating need to have the best technology to prevent accidents and the engineering integrity to protect you if the worst should happen.

ORA 03, the first launch model from GWM ORA in the UK, not only achieved the top score, it was also named the ‘Best-in-class, Small Family Car’. The scoring was based on its high scores for Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable User Protection and Safety Assist technologies.

 In the Adult Protection tests, NCAP checks the condition of different size crash test dummies after two different types of front impacts and a simulated side impact with a pole. Child Protection checks the same for rear passengers in Isofix seats, while Vulnerable User Protection rates the car’s ability to minimise harm to pedestrians and cyclists.

 An essential part of this final category is to help prevent accidents happening, and the ORA 03 has an exceptionally high level of driver assistance technology as standard across the range. For example, it comes equipped with 360-degree cameras to give a ‘bird’s eye’ view of the car on the central screen. In addition, there is radar-controlled emergency braking and rear cross traffic alert which can help the driver to spot moving vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists. It will even apply the brakes automatically if the sensors think they’ve spotted a hazard the driver may have missed.

NCAP doesn’t just test impacts related to crashes either. The organisation now uses its expertise and independence to measure car’s efficiency and environmental impact too. Once again, the ORA 03 was awarded top marks, with an average test score of 97%, which means the 03 comfortably achieved a 5 star Green rating and was the winner of the Green NCAP ‘Small Family Car’ and ‘Full Electric Car’ categories.

To judge the ratings, NCAP measures energy or fuel consumption efficiency, direct greenhouse gas output and the emissions related to the production and supply of the fuel or energy used.

After the Life Cycle Assessment was measured, the ORA 03 achieved the ‘Greener Choice’ award in 2023 for having the lowest impact on the climate over its complete vehicle life.

 Green NCAP praised ORA 03 for its “good efficiency under a variety of conditions” adding that it “made use of its aerodynamic design and high charging efficiency, helping improve its overall consumption and reducing costs for the consumers”.

 Toby Marshall, Managing Director, GWM ORA, said: “We’re delighted with the fantastic results that ORA 03 has achieved as part of the rigorous Green NCAP testing. As the winner of two key categories, it is clear that the ORA 03 has exceptional sustainability and efficiency credentials, factors that will resonate strongly with UK consumers.”

 GWM ORA now has two model variants of ORA 03 on sale in the UK, PURE+ and PRO+; naming conventions that have recently been announced as part of a wider brand strategy update. The brand has also recently achieved key operational milestones in the UK, with 1,000 vehicles now on roads and over 30 customer service locations in place. 

 In 2024, GWM ORA will introduce additional variants of ORA 03, including a sport inspired GT variant as well as a premium saloon model, called the ORA 07.