Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite, Honda City and Honda Jazz have each scored a four-star adult occupant safety rating at the latest Global NCAP crash tests. Each of the 2022-produced right-hand drive cars had two airbags as standard at the time of their testing at the speed of 64 km per hour.

Based on these ratings, only the Jazz has managed to break into the list of top ten safest cars produced in India. The list continues to be dominated by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra with eight of their models split equally between them.

According to the test findings, the fourth generation Honda City showed good protection to the head of driver and passenger though the tests concluded that the car’s bodyshell was unstable and it was not capable of withstanding further loadings. The City, however, did get four-star rating for child occupant safety making it the fourth most-safest car for children.

Compact SUVs Renault Kiger and Nissan Magnite got similar crash ratings as the Honda City. The Kiger’s bodyshell was also rated as unstable, but the footwell area was rated as stable. The Magnite, which is built on the same body as the Kiger’s, received slightly better review. Its bodyshell and footwell area were rated as stable.

Honda’s premium hatchback Jazz also received positive review with its bodyshell being rated as stable, capable of withstanding further loadings. The footwell area was also rated as stable.

Alejandro Furas, Global NCAP Secretary General, said, “This is an important milestone moment for our crash testing in India, with fifty models tested to date. There has been significant progress on vehicle safety design since we began our tests in 2014 but, as we see from our latest results, there is still more to be done to achieve the high safety standards that consumers in India rightly demand.”

Global brands fall short on safety

GNCAP which is a not-for-profit organisation noted that it was rather disappointing that major global brands fall short on safety in India whilst comfortably exceeding these requirements in other global markets.

While the list of top five safest cars is dominated by Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki does not have even one car in the latest top ten list. Among the non-India auto brands only the Volkswagen Polo and Honda Jazz feature in the top ten list. This is the best-ever rating for both Renault and Nissan at the GNCAP testing.

The Centre is contemplating to make it mandatory for carmakers to install six airbags as standard fitment instead of two offered now. The new rule could push up the cost of cars is likely to be implemented l later this year.

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