Mint Explainer: Why India’s most popular cars fare poorly in crash tests

In the last nine years, NCAP has tested 62 cars in India. Half of them scored less than 3 stars for adult safety. It has a terrible track record and in most countries around the world – including some developing countries like Brazil – such cars would not be allowed on the roads. Adding to the bad news, 20 of the 62 cars scored zero.

In the latest round of tests, two mid-size sedans – Skoda Slavia and Volkswagen Virtus – scored full 5 stars for safety but two entry-level small cars – Alto K10 and WagonR – embarrassed themselves. The K10 – one of the cheapest cars in the market and the fourth best selling car in the country – got only 2 stars in terms of safety. For the last two years, India’s best selling car WagonR has got only 1 score.

Before going in depth some disclaimers are necessary. Both the car and the crash test have evolved over the years, so it is not fair to compare the results of cars from different years. For example, the initial batch of cars came without airbags. Then there were cars with a single airbag, and now most cars have at least two. Airbags have a big impact on crash test results. At the same time, Global NCAP last year upgraded the test to include side-impact test and poll side effects. Now in order to achieve a 5-star rating, vehicles are required to have additional safety features such as electronic stability control and pedestrian protection systems.

With a few notable exceptions, there is a clear pattern to how cars perform in crash tests in India – smaller, cheaper cars tend to do significantly worse than more expensive cars. Cars like Alto, WagonR, Swift, i10, SPresso and Ignis have failed the test on many occasions. Even in today’s tight security regime, these cars have not improved their ranking. For example, Swift has been tested three times and has always received less than 3 stars.

Cars in India are designed for consumers who don’t have a lot of money to spend – India ranks 127th in the world in per capita GDP. The average price of a car in India – $8,000 – is among the lowest in the world. Not long ago the Tata Nano was the flag bearer of such no-frills engineering. But keep in mind that there are low costs despite high taxes – between 29-50% – compared to most countries around the world.

Historically, lax safety and emissions norms allowed companies to bridge this gap between high taxes and low affordability by offering cheap products that were a few generations behind in the developed world. In recent times, India has overtaken the world in terms of emissions but safety remains an area of ​​neglect.

How loose are we? In Global NCAP’s tests, cars are driven into a deformable barrier at a speed of 64 kmph with 40% overlap. Currently, India conducts front offset tests at a lower speed – 56 kmph. A difference of 8 kmph may not seem like much but it makes a huge difference in an accident and a vehicle may need to be completely overhauled to comply.

One way to comply is to add more safety features, but these cost money and manufacturers have always resisted, constrained by low affordability and high taxes. Market leader Maruti Suzuki, for example, is lobbying aggressively against the proposal to make six airbags mandatory. Such regulation would make cars safer but at a cost. In addition to the increased cost of making such cars, some existing models would not be able to comply and would have to be scrapped entirely.

Nevertheless, the cost argument is not always true. The cost of installing two airbags in close proximity has come down significantly less than 1 lakh a decade ago 20,000 thanks to economies of scale. The bigger issue is the structural bodyshell integrity of the car. In layman’s terms, it measures a car’s ability to withstand impact. If the structure is unstable, adding safety features such as airbags and traction control does not have the desired effect. The WagonR, for instance, got one star less than the AltoK10, probably because it has a flimsy bodyshell.

Several other cars like the Swift, S Presso, Ignis, i20, Creta and Renault Triber had at least two airbags and represented a cross-section of price points. But they all had an unstable bodyshell that made them vulnerable. The Kia Carens actually has six airbags, but also a shaky bodyshell.

Luckily, there are some positives as well. Apart from European carmakers, the two manufacturers who have taken the biggest steps on safety in recent times are Tata and Mahindra. These two firms account for six of the 88 cars that have received the 5 star rating in the country so far. These include mass-market models such as the Tata Punch, Nexon, Altroz ​​and the Mahindra XUV3OO.

Nevertheless, there are still many cars in India across all segments and price points that have poor structural integrity. They are considered suitable for walking on the roads as our rules are lax. Many of them are also bestsellers. While Tata and Mahindra have gained market share based on their results in crash tests, others with poor results still find substantial takers.

In the mind of the budget-oriented consumer, safety often takes a backseat, and this mindset needs to end. This work is likely to be done by the upcoming India NCAP test system.