I know the Mazda 3 has a 5 star crash safety rating however the German cars feel allot tougher.
Probably because Audis (not sure if all are or just the upper models) are made from aluminium, which is softer, but much lighter than steel, sotheir cars have a thicker outer body shell. Aluminium does corrode (aluminium oxide), but not as much as steel does under the same conditions, and its less obvious when it does.
The NCAP rating takes into account way for than 'how strong' the bodyshell is, and as someone (I forget who) said once, Japanese cars are designed to be 'enough' as fit and finish, trim quality, panel thickness, etc, but do more on the engineering (oily bits and electricals) because they are the parts that wear out the quickest and have far more of an impact of the car's operation, including safety. The likes of Toyota and Honda feel their cars should be even more robust, but that's why you pay more for them compared to Mazdas.
Its always a compromise of sorts, even if money is no object, because car companies want to sell you a new car every few years (£££Profits) - no one every 25 that is faultless throughout. German brands have increasingly gone for styling, interior plushness, fancy/complex electronic gizmos/systems and performance, and in my opinion, to the detriment of engineering quality and simplicity. That's why so many supposedly 'premium' marques and cars are regularly rated bottom in terms of reliability. Its also noticeable that many of those brands don't do well on post-sales customer service either.
Saying that, I think Mazda needs to improve far more than they have of late on that score, as they are consistently well behind Toyota and Honda, and soon Hyundai/KIA as well, and are only doing ok because their petrol-engined cars are generally well-regarded for reliability, as much as their range in general is higly regarded for great handling and stylish cars at a reasonable price. Should any major problems arise on the forthcoming petrol HCCI engines, this could be a major problem for Mazda, given the significant issues they've experienced with unreliable diesel engines, even if some (the 1.6/1.5 PSA-Ford derived unit - not sure who designed/makes the 2.2TD for them) are bought in. Nissan's reputation on the engineering quality side has, in my view, suffered greatly since their tie-up with Renault - given Mazda isn't a large car firm compared to their main rivals, they need to be very careful about both reliability and customer care.
