As per a latest study and survey commissioned by Skoda Auto India, 9 out of 10 customers in India want cars with a safety rating.
This holds significance since Indian customers typically used to be concerned with mileage among other things.
Skoda’s safety record
Skoda presently sells the Slavia, Kodiaq, and Kushaq in India.
Of these, Slavia and the Kushaq have been crash tested for the Indian market.
Both have scored a 5 star safety rating as per Global NCAP.
The survey
The survey covered 1,000 people in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
It found that crash rating of a car was the primary feature customers sought, followed by the number of airbags.
Fuel efficiency was at the third spot.
Road safety issues
This shift in sentiment can be attributed to the higher incidents of road accidents in India.
Each year around 1.5 lakh people die on India roads.
This translates to an average of 1130 accidents and 422 deaths every day or 47 accidents and 18 deaths every hour.
Survey findings
The survey had people in the 18-54 age group out of which 80 percent were male respondents and 20 percent female.
92 percent of those surveyed stated that they want crash tested cars.
22.2 percent preferred a 5 star safety rating while a zero crash rating was at only 6.8 percent.
47.6 percent surveyors stated that safety was more important than features offered in the vehicle.
This is followed by 30 percent surveyors who said child/rear occupant safety was of importance.
Fuel efficiency came in at third in the list of customer demands with a 15 percent score.
Crash testing in India
Although India does not have a standardized crash test rating system, the government has stressed car safety by making multiple features as standard.
Soon to come is an indigenous rating system called Bharat NCAP.
Global NCAP
In the absence of a native crash testing system, independent agencies like Global NCAP provide crash test ratings.
It rates vehicles from zero to five based on their safety features on offer as standard and how it performs during a crash.
It assesses vehicles on adult and child safety.
Crash test norms include assessments of frontal and side impact protection along with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and pedestrian protection.
