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.”

Source: Business Standard

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