As we progress more and more into the future of the automobiles, a certain demand for an increase in the safety of cars was inevitable and rightly so. Cars today are more sophisticated than ever, more feature-loaded than ever, easier to drive than ever and even with a lot more options than ever. So, it is only fair that today’s cars are safer than ever. And in India, our homegrown automakers like Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra are leading the charge for #Safercarsforindia.
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In a draft notification issued by the ministry, the government has proposed the implementation of the new rule in new car models from April 1, 2020 and for existing models, the timeline has been kept as June 1, 2020.
The ministry’s notification read, “In a significant measure to boost passenger safety, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways proposes to make it mandatory that an airbag be provided for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver. The proposed timelines for implementation are 01st April, 2021 for new models and 01st June, 2021 for existing models.”
Mostly, the lower variants of a few cars don’t feature dual front airbags, like the Maruti Celerio, the Renault Kwid to name a few. This new order might result in a further price hike on lower variants of some models. Already reeling with the BS6 transition and the unprecedented results of a dismal year, the Automakers were forced to hike prices across their portfolio and this might further lead to the same.
“FADA ( Federation of Auto Dealers Association ) welcomes MoRTH’s ( Ministry of Road Transport and Highways ) intention for mandating dual front airbags. This is a much-needed safety norm which India should adopt and be at par with global standards,” FADA President Vinkesh Gulati said in a statement on Tuesday.
“We hope OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) absorb the major cost of input due to the second airbag as it will impact the sales in the short-term. It will be bad for the industry, which is able to show growth on MoM (month-on-month) basis, but still lags in YoY (year-on-year) basis after Covid-19 hit us hard,” Mr Gulati further added.