Maruti Suzuki Alto 800 and
Hyundai i10, the two best-selling Indian-made hatchbacks, were among a batch of five cars that failed to pass the Global
New Car Assessment Program (
Ncap) by a UK-based independent charity focused on consumer-orientated vehicle safety initiatives.
Results of the first of its kind independent study conducted by the organisation also on the Tata Nano, Volkswagen Polo and Ford Figo showed a high risk of life-threatening injuries in road crashes on frontal impact. All the cars landed a zero in the test on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being the least safe. The report comes just days before the much hyped
International Auto Expo that will showcase a host of new cars for the Indian market.
The tests are conducted at ADAC, an automobile club in Germany founded in May 1903. The club had more than 18 million members as of May 2012. The tests done on cars bought from Indian showrooms and later shipped to the testing facility highlighted shortcomings in the structural integrity of the vehicles tested. Only entry-level variants were chosen for the tests. These vehicles usually do not have airbags, a basic prerequisite globally to pass a safety test.
Combined sales of these five cars accounted for around 20 per cent of all new cars sold in India last year. The crash tests were carried out at 64 kmph.
Max Mosley, chairman of Global Ncap, said, “India is now a major global market and production centre for small cars, so it’s worrying to see levels of safety that are 20 years behind the five-star standards now common in Europe and North America. Poor structural integrity and the absence of airbags are putting the lives of Indian consumers at risk. They have a right to know how safe their vehicles are and to expect the same basic levels of safety as a standard as customers in other parts of the world.”
Ncap also assessed the same models against the UN’s basic crash test and all the cars except the Volkswagen Polo passed that minimum standard. This 40 per sent offset frontal impact test at 56 kmph is now widely applied by major manufacturing countries and regions, including Australia, China, the European Union, Japan and Malaysia.
The Global Plan for the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety recommends that all member states apply this standard, although it is not yet applied in India.
The Nano, India's most cost-effective car, has no three-point seatbelt on the rear seats and no way to install a child seat or transport a small child safely, the study noted. In addition to the Indian market, the Nano is sold in Sri Lanka and Nepal. Tata Motors wants to start exports of the car to Southeast Asian countries.
“Safety is of paramount importance to Tata Motors. All our vehicles, including the Tata Nano, meet all Indian safety regulations, including the frontal barrier crash test at 48 kmph, as mandated by the government. All our cars on Indian roads, including the Nano are engineered for safety in view of Indian road and traffic conditions. We do not have any announcement on the Nano for other markets,” a spokesperson for Tata Motors said. Maruti Suzuki declined to comment on the findings.
Despite India recording the highest road fatalities in the world, the share of life-saving features such as airbags in cars and SUVs is among the lowest in the world. Customers in India usually compromise on safety issues to benefit from lower price tags.
Volkswagen's Polo is the only model on sale in India which offers front airbags as standard on all variants. The company only recently decided to withdraw non-airbag versions from the India market. "Keeping in mind the increasing speeds on Indian roads, longer driving times, traffic complexities and therefore the need for more active and passive safety systems as standard on a car, Volkswagen now provides dual front airbags as standard across all variants of the Polo," a release from Volkswagen stated.
The Figo, Ford's made-in-India car, fared slightly better than competition. Its structure along with that of the Polo remained stable during the test. "Safety is one of the highest priorities in the design of our vehicles. Our vehicles consistently meet or exceed applicable industry safety standards. We are monitoring the progress of this review and will work with the Indian authorities, the GNCAP and the other relevant stakeholders as appropriate," stated a Ford spokesperson.
A Hyundai India spokesperson said, “Hyundai Motor India affirms that Hyundai vehicles are designed and built to meet all the prescribed safety standards set by Indian regulatory authorities." A senior executive of a car company, however, said, "There is no problem for us to add European safety features to our cars. But they cost a lot of money and in India consumers are extremely conscious of the price."
Abdul Majeed of PwC India, however, said the concerns were overdone.
"There is nothing new in this. In the past, such tests have been carried out on Chinese cars. I don't see any impact of this. West Asian and African laws are not very stringent. If companies wish to target developed markets, then they will adhere to their stringent laws."
