Global NCAP has crash tested over 45 Indian cars till date – Here are the latest safety ratings of all Indian cars crash tested, At top are cars from VW, Skoda, Mahindra and Tata
Global NCAP has been testing cars in India as per new protocols since 2022. While 6 cars were tested in 2022, 4 cars were recently tested as per new protocols. Skoda and Volkswagen dominate the rankings, with Virtus, Slavia, Kushaq and Taigun emerging as the safest cars in India.
On the other end of the spectrum, Maruti Suzuki entry-level cars continue to get low ratings. The list includes S-Presso, Swift, Ignis, WagonR and Alto K10. In case of Mahindra and Tata cars, ratings may change when they are tested as per new protocols.
India’s safest cars (Adult Safety)
Top 5 GNCAP safest cars in India in adult safety are Volkswagen Virtus / Skoda Slavia (29.71), Volkswagen Taigun / Skoda Kushaq (29.64) and Mahindra Scorpio N (29.25). Other 5-rated cars are as per old test protocols. It includes Tata Punch (16.45), Mahindra XUV300 (16.42), Tata Altroz (16.13), Tata Nexon (16.06) and Mahindra XUV700 (16.03). As per new GNCAP protocols, cars with 1-star adult safety rating include S-Presso, WagonR, Swift and Ignis. Maruti Alto K10 has received 2-star rating.
India’s safest cars (Child Safety)
In child safety, the best performers as per new protocols are Taigun, Kushaq, Virtus and Slavia. All four have scored 42 points out of a total of 49 in child safety. Mahindra Scorpio N has 3-star child safety rating, with 28.93 points. As per old protocol, cars with highest child safety rating include XUV700 (41.66), Thar (41.11), Tata Punch (40.89), Honda City 4th-gen (38.27), XUV300 (37.44) and Tigor EV (37.24). As per new test protocols, Ignis, Alto K10, S-Presso and WagonR have zero GNCAP rating. Maruti Swift has 1-star rating in child safety.
India’s safest cars (Total Points)
India’s safest GNCAP cars with highest total points as per new test protocols are Virtus / Slavia (71.71), Taigun / Kushaq (71.64), and Scorpio N (58.18). As per old protocols, cars with highest total score are XUV700 (57.69), Punch (57.34), XUV300 (53.86), Thar (53.63), City 4th Gen (50.30) and Toyota Urban Cruiser (50.20). Rest all other cars have scored less than 50. As per new protocols, lowest points are for Ignis (20.34), WagonR (23.09), S-Presso (23.55), Alto K10 (25.19) and Swift (35.87).
It is clear that GNCAP crash tests based on new protocols are focused on Volkswagen, Skoda and Maruti cars. Mahindra has just one entry, Scorpio N, and it seems to have performed as per expectations. Total points could have been higher if the SUV had scored more in child safety. Points were cut for Scorpio N in child safety, as rear seats of the SUV missed out on features such as belt pretensioner, belt load limiter, side head (thorax head) airbag, side chest airbag, side pelvis airbag, integrated CRS and seat belt reminder.
Mahindra has been introducing updates at regular intervals. So, other SUVs like XUV700, XUV300 and Thar could probably score higher points as per new test protocols. It will also be interesting to see how Tata cars perform as per new test protocols. People are also waiting for safety ratings of Harrier and Safari that have never been tested by Global NCAP.
