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A side impact study carried out on a particular vehicle has been described and used as a case study to represent a methodology for incorporating side crashworthiness in a new vehicle concept design. In the automotive design environment, it has proved difficult to include side crashworthiness satisfactorily in the initial stages of the passenger car design. Lack of vehicle data at such a stage does not allow detailed finite element analysis. It is, however, possible to suggest the required collapse properties for individual components within the structure so that, through a coarse finite element idealization, a design for crashworthiness can be carried out. The crash properties of the structure can be arrived at by parametric studies of individual components that are absorbing the major portion of the crash energy.