Embarrassment For Maruti As S-Presso, Alto Get Zero Star Crash Rating; Kia Seltos Beats Hyundai In Safety
The Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) is a major project of the Towards Zero Foundation and also serves as a platform for co-operation among new car assessment programs worldwide and promotes the universal adoption of the United Nation’s most important motor vehicle safety standards worldwide.
Global NCAP tested Maruti Suzuki’s S-presso, Hyundai Grand i10 Nios, and Kia Seltos, (all made in India models) at a crash lab in Germany, and as per the protocol, only base variants were used. All the cars were tested on a frontal offset test that is carried out at a speed of 64 kmph.
Maruti Suzuki S-Presso mini SUV got a zero crash rating. Hyundai Grand i10 Nios received a 2-star rating and Kia Seltos compact SUV got a 3-star rating.
Read on to know more…
Contents
Maruti Suzuki S-Presso Has Zero Safety Performance Rating When Tata, Mahindra Have 5-Star Rating!
Maruti Suzuki S-presso doesn’t have standard dual airbags but only a driver-side airbag. Therefore, even before the test, the result of zero-rating was staring in the face of the India-Japanese carmaker.
S-presso got a zero-rating for adult occupant protection. On the child occupant safety, the car got 2 stars.
Post the test, crash test dummies witnessed notable injuries to the neck and chest area while the car’s structure and front foot well area were also deemed unstable.
The front seatbelts don’t have pretensioners while the rear middle occupant seat does not get a 3-point seatbelt. The car did not have the standardized ISOFIX child seat anchors and Maruti Suzuki didn’t recommend Child Restraint Systems (CRS).
It should be noted that currently, Maruti Suzuki has around 7 top-selling car models in the Indian market.
“It is very disappointing that Maruti Suzuki, the manufacturer with the largest share of the Indian market, offers such low safety performance for Indian consumers. Domestic manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata have demonstrated high levels of safety and protection for their customers, both achieving five star performances. Surely it’s time for Maruti Suzuki to demonstrate this commitment to safety for its customers?” said Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Global NCAP.
Maruti Suzuki responded to carandbike‘s queries by saying, “Safety is a critical issue and is therefore closely regulated by governments around the world as they are responsible for the safety of the people in their countries. It cannot be left to the opinion of any self-proclaimed party. The Government of India has recently increased the stringency of car crash test standards and made them identical to European standards. All products of the company are fully compliant with these global standards and duly tested and certified by the Government of India.”
Hyundai Grand i10 Nios
Hyundai Grand i10 Nios also received a poor rating of 2-stars for adult occupant protection as well as child occupant safety.
The 2 stars can be attributed to standard dual front airbags and front seatbelt pretensioners.
The crash dummies had their head, chest and neck well protected, and had non-fatal injuries in the lower half of the body. Although, like S-presso, Grand i10 Nios’ car structure and foot well area were also declared unstable. The car also does not have 3-point seatbelts at all positions. The car did not have the standardized ISOFIX child seat anchors and Hyundai didnt recommend Child Restraint Systems (CRS).
Kia Seltos
Kia Seltos received 3 stars for adult occupant protection and 2 stars for child occupant safety.
The good score can be attributed to the standardized dual airbags, pretensioners, ABS braking.
The Seltos’ car structure and foot well area also got an unstable rating when crash dummies showed injury on legs and feet. But Global NCAP claims that the car structure is borderline safe and shows scopes of improvement.
Head, neck, and chest protection were declared acceptable, however, Global NCAP showed concerns that Kia too didnt recommend CRS. The car also doesnt have standard 3-point belts for all seats and ISOFIX child seat anchors.
Here are the NCAP crash test ratings for all cars being sold in India.
Final Thoughts
“There is no place for zero rated cars in the Indian market. It remains a great disappointment that an important manufacturer like Maruti Suzuki does not recognise this,” said David Ward, President of the Towards Zero Foundation.
The lack of ISOFIX child seat anchors and lack of CRS recommendations made Global NCAP question ‘about the car manufacturer policy and relevance towards child occupant protection for the Indian market’.
It can be safely said now that even if Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, and Kia have top-sellers in the Indian market but at what cost are we buying these cars? Death? Really?
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