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2016 Global NCAP Results: Made in India cars fail miserably in crash tests, receive 0-star ratings

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The previous Global NCAP test showed how dismally unsafe some of the Indian cars were in terms of safety and the 2016 results aren’t too bright either. The results of the 2016 Global NCAP crash tests were recently released on their official websites and the Made in India cars have suffered miserably in the assessments. This year, the independent study assessed top selling models, namely Hyundai Eon, Maruti Suzuki Eeco, Maruti Suzuki Celerio, Mahindra Scorpio and the Renault Kwid. Here is how the vehicles faired in the tests:

Hyundai Eon

2016-Hyundai-Eon-NO-Airbags

Hyundai India’s entry-level hatchback, the Eon, in its base avatar scored a zero rating in the Global NCAP test. The report suggests that the protection offered to the driver head was poor. However, the hatchback won two-stars in child safety. So while the Hyundai Eon scored a zero in terms of adult safety, the hatchback received two-star rating in terms of child protection with 20.42 points.

Video: Hyundai Eon (No airbags)

The report stated, “The protection offered to the driver head was poor and for this reason the star capping was applied. Driver’s chest protection was poor while passenger’s chest protection was marginal. The front passengers’ knees could impact with dangerous structures in the dashboard. The bodyshell was rated as unstable and it was not capable of withstanding any further loadings.”

In terms of child safety, the Hyundai Eon scored a two-star rating. “The child seat for the three year old child was unable to prevent excessive forward movement during the impact. The recommended CRS for the 3 year old dummy was found to be incompatible with the belt system on the vehicle, while the CRS for the 18 months dummy did not show incompatibility. The installation instructions on both child seats were insufficient and not permanently attached to the seat. The vehicle was not equipped with a passenger airbag.”

Maruti Suzuki Eeco

2016-Suzuki-Maruti-Eeco-NO-Airbags

The people mover, mostly used as a cab in the country, also scored wretchedly in the tests. The car, however, unlike others in the test, did not score an absolute zero. The Maruti Suzuki Eeco still managed to score 1.13 points. But even with those points, the vehicle could not score even a single star in terms of adult protection. In terms of child safety, the Eeco scored two star rating with a total of 24.20 points.

Video: Maruti Suzuki Eeco

The report said, “The protection offered to the driver chest was poor and the head protection was weak. The passengers’ knees could impact with dangerous structures in the dashboard as well as the shock absorber mounts mainly from driver side. The bodyshell was rated as unstable and cannot withstand further loadings.”

“The child seat for the 3 year old child was able to prevent excessive forward movement during the impact however the biomechanial readings were above the limits. The dynamic performance of the 18 months child restraint was adequate. However, the installation instructions on both child seats were insufficient and not permanently attached to the seat. Both CRS were compatible with the belt system on the vehicle. This vehicle was not equipped with a passenger airbag,” the report added about the child safety.

Maruti Suzuki Celerio

2016-Suzuki-Maruti-Celerio-NO-Airbags

Maruti Suzuki’s latest hatchback, the Celerio, did not receive a single star either. The vehicle failed to provide protection to the driver while the passenger got a marginal protection. Moreover, the Celerio is also the vehicle that scores the least in terms of child safety with just 11.53 points and a single star rating.

Video: Maruti Suzuki Celerio

Global NCAP report said, “The protection offered to the driver head neck and chest was poor and the passenger’s chest received marginal protection. The passengers’ knees could impact with dangerous structures in the dashboard. The bodyshell was rated as unstable and cannot withstand further loadings.”

“The child seat for the 3 year old child was not able to prevent excessive forward movement during the impact and the biomechanical readings were above the limits. The dynamic performance of the 18 months child restraint was adequate. However, the installation instructions on both child seats were insufficient and not permanently attached to the seat. Both CRS were compatible with the belt system on the vehicle. This vehicle was not equipped with a passenger airbag.”

Renault Kwid

2016-Renault-Kwid-III-Driver-Airbag

One of Renault’s highest selling products, the Kwid entry-level hatchback, could not impress the Global NCAP evaluators either. The Kwid, with and without driver-side airbag, failed to score even a single star for adult protection while the child safety rating stood at two-stars with 23.89 points. For the base variant with no airbags, the protection offered to the driver’s head and chest was poor while the airbag equipped version managed to offer good protection.

Here are the test results of the airbag and non-airbag version. Click on the image to expand

Video: Renault Kwid

The report stated, “The protection offered to the driver head and neck by the airbag was good. However the protection to the chest due to high chest compression was poor and the passenger’s chest received marginal protection. The passengers’ knees could impact with dangerous structures in the dashboard. The bodyshell was rated as unstable and can not withstand further loadings. It was confirmed that Renault added reinforcements in the structure but only in the driver side and not in passenger side.”

“The child seat for the 3 year old child was not able to prevent excessive forward movement during the impact and, the biomechanical readings were close below the allowed limits. The dynamic performance of the 18 months child restraint was adequate. However, the installation instructions on both child seats were insufficient and not permanently attached to the seat. The static three ploint belts in the rear seats made more difficult the proper installation of the CRS. This vehicle was not equipped with a passenger airbag.”

Mahindra Scorpio

2016-Mahindra-Scorpio-NO-Airbags

You should ideally feel safest in an SUV but this one may not be the one you want to be caught inside in case of an accident. Even the rugged Mahindra Scorpio SUV could not score great in the Global NCAP tests either. The SUV too scored a zero star rating in adult protection while attaining two star safety in child protection with just 16.73 points.

Video: Mahindra Scorpio

The report said, “The protection offered to the driver head and chest was poor and the passenger’s chest received marginal protection. The passengers’ knees could impact with dangerous structures in the dashboard. The bodyshell was rated as unstable and cannot withstand further loadings.”

“The child seat for the 3 year old child was not able to prevent excessive forward movement during the impact and the biomechanical readings were above the limits. The dynamic performance of the 18 months child restraint was adequate. However, the installation instructions on both child seats were insufficient and not permanently attached to the seat. Both CRS were compatible with the belt system on the vehicle. This vehicle was not equipped with a passenger airbag.”

Toyota Etios

2016-Toyota-Etios

On the positive side, the Toyota Etios managed to impress the evaluators as the car scored a healthy 13 points, gaining it a four star rating. The child protection though was 20.02 points which gained the Etios just two star rating for child safety.

Video: Toyota Etios

“In the frontal impact the driver and passenger heads were both well protected by the airbags and seatbelts. Both seatbelts were equipped with pretensioners. There were hazardous structures in the area of the facia that could be impacted by an occupants knees. The structure was able to withstand further loadings.”

“The child seat for the 1,5 year old child was able to prevent excessive forward movement during the impact. The 3 year old exceeded the forward excursion limit. The biomechanical limits of the child dummies were reached during the test. There is no possibity to disconnect the passenger airbag.”

The 2014 Global NCAP tests raised crucial questions in terms of safety standards of Made in India vehicles and while some manufacturers did take several steps to improve their safety ratings, others continue to suffer in the independent tests. We hope the manufacturers are taking note and would deliver better and more importantly safer products for the Indian market.

1 thought on “2016 Global NCAP Results: Made in India cars fail miserably in crash tests, receive 0-star ratings”

  1. Did we notice, in all the crash tests the dumjes were occupied in seat belts. I havnt seen a car yet on Indian roads with all occupants under seat belt. If we think the NCAP test showing cars are very unsafe, reality is fatal if not less severe.

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