What happened
Euro NCAP, the European car safety testing program, published its first gradings of highway assistants on 1 October 2020. It tested ten cars on test tracks, among them a Ford Kuga with Co-Pilot 360. The Kuga scored 66% for assistance competence and 86% for safety backup. The system kept assisting while the driver steered around an obstacle. For an unresponsive driver, the car made a controlled stop in its lane. When its radar or camera was blocked, it warned the driver and would not switch on. Euro NCAP graded it Good and wrote that such balanced systems are also available on mainstream mid-class cars. ADAC, the German motoring club, found that it scored very well as an emergency backup and made hardly any major lapse. Euro NCAP judged that the name Co-Pilot 360 suggests more than the system can do. The car could not slow for curves or junctions and checked only the driver's hands on the wheel. The tests ran on tracks, so no crash outcome on public roads is reported.
Sources
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Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.
ADAC (Wolfgang Rudschies, with technical advice from Andreas Rigling of the ADAC Technik Zentrum Landsberg). Euro-NCAP-Test: Wie gut sind Autobahnassistenten? First published 1 October 2020, updated 7 December 2021. Section Ford Kuga solide, VW Passat schwach. ADAC reports Euro NCAP's highway assist tests of 2020 and 2021.
Positiv überraschen kann der Ford Kuga, der bei der Notfallassistenz (als Rückfallebene) richtig gut punktet und sich in kaum einem Testkriterium einen größeren Lapsus leistet.
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Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.
Euro NCAP. Euro NCAP Launches Assisted Driving Grading. Press release, Leuven, 1 October 2020.
Finally, the Kuga achieves a Good grading, demonstrating that well- balanced, advanced systems are also available on mainstream mid-class vehicles.
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Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.
The Ford Kuga provides a good level of Vehicle Assistance with a similar level of Driver Engagement resulting in a good, balanced system.
Details
AI system
- Workflow
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Ford combines map-based speed limit information with real-time camera inputs. The system keeps assisting while the driver steers around an obstacle. For an unresponsive driver, the car makes a controlled stop in its lane.
Follow-up
- Conditions for replication
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The driver stays alert and keeps full control of the car at all times. The car checks only that the driver's hands are on the wheel.
Entry details
- Sector
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Road vehicle crash avoidance / assisted driving.
- Purpose
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Ford built Co-Pilot 360 to help the driver keep speed, distance and lane on highways.
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Cite this record
Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). Co-Pilot 360 on the Ford Kuga earns a Good grade from Euro NCAP (AIBD-0950). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 1 November 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-0950.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 7.0)