Global NCAP has once again tested the Maruti Suzuki Swift, but this time, it has come away with a poor 1-star rating for adult and child safety. The Swift, along with the Ignis, S Presso and the Mahindra Scorpio N, was one of the other cars to be tested under the stringent Global NCAP protocol, which came into force from this July.
The model tested was manufactured in India for the domestic market and came equipped with dual front airbags, seat belt pretensioners, rear ISOFIX anchorages and seat belt reminder. The current-gen Swift was first tested by GNCAP before the facelift in 2018, where it scored 2 stars for both adult and child occupant protection.
Notably, these ratings are also applicable for the Dzire compact sedan as both are based on the same platform, and are sibling models.
The 2022 Swift scored 19.19 points out of a possible 34 points in adult occupant protection, which includes the frontal offset deformable barrier test and the side movable deformable barrier test, where it scored 6.3 points and 12.9 points, respectively.
In the frontal impact test, GNCAP found that the Swift provided good head and neck protection for the driver and passenger. The driver’s chest protection was weak, while that of the passenger was adequate. The driver’s knees and the passenger’s right knee showed marginal protection as they could come into contact with dangerous structures behind the dashboard, while the passenger’s left knee showed good protection.
In the side impact test, head, abdominal and pelvis protection was rated as good, but chest protection was rated as poor.
GNCAP also noted that the footwell area as well as the bodyshell were unstable, and were not able to withstand any further load. Notably, these findings aren’t much different from Swift’s previous crash tests. The 2018 pre-facelift Swift registered high compression on the driver’s chest, an unstable structure and poor protection in the footwell area.
The new testing protocol from Global NCAP also requires cars to be tested for side pole impact. However, the same was not done on the Swift as it does not get side head protection, even as an option. The Swift also does not come with electronic stability control as standard, which is why it was not tested for the safety assistance systems as well. Lastly, it also does not comply with UN127 or GTR9 pedestrian safety norms.
When it comes to child occupant protection, the Swift scored 16.68 out of a possible 49. This includes a dynamic score of 12.82 points and a CRS (Child Restraint System) installation score of 3.86 points.
The Swift only comes with standard ISOFIX anchorages for the two outboard rear seats, but misses out on the front passenger seat. It also misses out on three-point seat belts for the middle rear passenger.