Three cars from Maruti Suzuki have been given a rather poor 1-star safety rating for both adult and child occupant protection in the Global NCAP crash test. The Maruti Swift, Ignis and S Presso were tested along with Mahindra Scorpio N under Global NCAP's more stringent protocols that came into effect in July this year.
Mahindra's Scorpio N was awarded full 5 stars for adult occupant protection in the Global NCAP crash tests, scoring 29.25/34. The car won 3 stars for child occupant protection with a score of 28.93/49 points. Global NCAP rated the car’s bodyshell integrity as stable, making it one of the safest cars in India.
Cars are awarded 5-star rating when they are able to score 27 and 41 points in adult and child safety, respectively.
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The overall score of 2022 Maruti Suzuki Swift was 19.19 out of 34 points in adult occupant protection. The car was tested for a frontal offset deformable barrier test where it scored 6.3 points and a side movable deformable barrier test where it scored 12.9 points.
In the frontal impact test, the GNCAP found that the car provided good protection to the driver and passenger’s head and neck. However, Swift’s protection for the driver’s chest was weak, even though it was adequate for the passenger.
In child occupant protection, the car scored 16.68 out of 49, including a dynamic score of 12.82 points and a Child Restraint System installation score of 3.86 points.
Even though the overall score of the car was 19.19, it was rated 1 star as it provided poor chest protection in the side impact test. Under the new tests, if a car gets a ‘poor’ rating in providing protection to any vital body part, it will not be awarded more than one star irrespective of its standard safety kit or other criteria.
Apart from this the GNCAP test found the footwell area and the bodyshell to be unstable and incapable of withstanding any further loadings. Maruti Swift also does not come with Electronic Stability Control as standard and was hence not tested for safety assist systems either. The car also does not comply with UN127 or GTR9 pedestrian protection norms.
On the other hand, Maruti S-Presso scored 20.03 points and 3.52 points for adult occupant protection and child occupant safety, respectively.
The GNCAP found that even though the S-Presso offered good protection to the head and neck of the driver and passenger, it had poor protection to the driver’s chest and marginal protection to the passenger’s chest.
In the side impact, the S-Presso offered marginal protection to the head and chest but good protection for the abdomen and pelvis.
The car’s child seat was not able to prevent forward head movement at the time of frontal impact.
According to the GNCAP test, Maruti Ignis scored 16.48 points for adult occupant protection and 3.86 points for child occupant safety.
While the car offered good protection to the head and neck of the driver and passenger, it had weak protection for the driver’s chest and adequate protection for the passenger’s chest. In the side impact test, the car offered weak protection to the head and poor chest protection. While abdomen protection seemed to be adequate, the test found pelvis protection in the car to be good.
For child occupant protection, Maruti Ignis scored 3.86 out of 49 points, including 3.86 points for CRS (Child Restraint System) installation. The car failed to score in the dynamic score and vehicle evaluation score.
Under the new stringent protocols of global NCAP, cars will have to go through both front offset impact and side impact tests. The cumulative score from the two tests is considered as the total score in the global NCAP crash tests. All cars are scored separately for adult and child occupant safety and awarded an overall rating out of five stars. Adult safety, which was ealier rated out of 17 points, is now rated out of 34 points. Child safety is scored on a 49-point scale.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
First Published: Dec 14, 2022 12:44 PM IST
