With the maturation of countries comes the desire to be better by the citizen, to live longer, to be healthier, to see their children grow up and have grandbabies. India is becoming that country and they are starting to demand safety in their cars.
“In a country that boasts of the highest number of road fatalities, safety should be the utmost priority in consumers and manufacturer’s minds alike. Unfortunately, as a value-conscious market, the consumer and manufacturers often sidestep safety for value. The manufacturers get away with this because there are takers for these products, so they are not entirely to blame.
However the Global NCAP ratings have stirred an awakening in the Indian consumer and slowly and steadily safety is becoming a priority, forcing manufacturers to up their game in terms of safety. An impending regulation change in 2020 is also another factor contributing to new cars becoming safer. In the recent Global NCAP announcement the Tata Nexon which previously tested and got four stars made the required change to seatbelt reminders for both driver and front passenger and managed a 5-star rating with their updated product. It’s a huge statement that Tata is the first Indian engineered car to have achieved a 5-star rating.
For a company that has been churning out stellar products but still hasn’t quite seen the success it should have because of lack of consumer confidence, this should be just the fillip it needs. Mahindra too needs a mention for their new Marazzo an MPV that has received a 4-star rating. ”
Renuka Kirpalani
Editor Autocar Show and Women’s World Car of the Year Juror (WWCOTY).
Global NCAP announced that the #SaferCarsForIndia campaign is making a difference, and for the first time ever there is a five-star safety rating in India, made by India. with two new crash test results today. Following recent four-star safety announcements, the Tata Nexon becomes the first made in India, sold in India car to achieve Global NCAP’s coveted five-star crash test rating.
The Tata Nexon scored five stars for Adult Occupant Protection and three stars for Child Occupant Protection. Following Nexon’s four-star result earlier this year Tata has improved a number of safety features including making a Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for driver and passenger a standard for all variants of the model. In addition, the Nexon was required to pass a side impact test meets UN95 side impact protection requirements (*).
The model offers good protection for both adult head and neck, marginal protection for the driver’s chest, and adequate protection for the passenger’s chest. The pedals showed some risk for the lower legs due to their displacement. The 18-month-old child dummy received good protection while the 3-year-old child passenger showed high readings in chest and head exposure.
The Mahindra Marazzo came in second best and achieved a four-star result. I expect them to do better next year. Nothing like a little hometown competition to make a company up their game.
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