Tata has been claiming Altroz as India’s safest car. But that is a false claim. As per the testing agency, Global NCAP, it is Mahindra XUV300 which is India’s safest car.
The Mahindra XUV300 is easily one of the best sub-four-metre compact-SUVs available on the market right now, in both petrol and diesel formats. Even with the likes of Tata Nexon and Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza ruling the segment, the XUV300 still manages to garner appreciable sales figures simply because it’s a well-rounded product. Now, the desirability factor of the Mahindra XUV300 has upped a notch by grabbing the title of being the safest Indian car ever made.
As you may know, the title was previously claimed by the Tata Nexon and then more recently the Tata Altroz. Nexon and Altroz are the first two made-in-India cars to be awarded a 5-star safety rating in the widely-acclaimed Global NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) crash tests. Just two days after Global NCAP revealed crash test report of Altroz, they revealed the crash test report of XUV300. As per this report, it was the XUV300 which was the safest car in India, and not Altroz. Despite this, Tata Motors continues to claim Altroz as the safest car in India.
In the test conducted back in 2018, the Tata Nexon scored 16.06 out of 17.00 points (five stars) in the Adult Occupant Protection category and 25.00 out of 49.00 points (three stars) for Child Occupant Protection. Combined, the compact-SUV received an overall rating of five stars. Protection to various parts of the body such as the chest and crus were ‘Adequate’ while the remaining were rated ‘Good’. Earlier this year, Tata Altroz scored 16.13 / 17 points for adult safety and 29 / 49 for child safety – thereby scoring 5 star and 3 star respectively.
Coming to the Mahindra XUV300, the compact-SUV based on the SsangYong Tivoli attained a score of 16.42/17.00 points or five stars in the adult occupant category and 37.44/49.00 points or four stars in the child occupant category. Anatomically, the safety ratings were mostly ‘Good’. The results clearly prove that the Mahindra XUV300 is virtually safer than the Tata Nexon and Altroz, which was in the previous avatar during its turn.
Now to felicitate Mahindra XUV300, Global NCAP has conferred its first ever ‘Safer Choice’ award to an Indian car. David Ward, CEO and President of Global NCAP said, “This is a historic moment for Mahindra and the Indian auto industry, marking a tipping point in vehicle safety performance for the country. After setting our ‘Safer Choice’ Award challenge in 2018 it is deeply satisfying to see an Indian automaker taking a lead on safety in this way.”
It is worth understanding that safety or crash tests by the concerned authorities are done in controlled environments with very few or zero variables and minimal chances of uncertainty. Things are very much different in the real-world and safety of road users come foremost as a result of caution, discipline and consideration.
