India's largest selling SUV Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza has secured four star rating while Renault Lodgy scores zero star in crash tests from Global NCAP, an international safety agency.
“The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza with standard double airbags, ABS, and ISOFIX anchorages, achieved four stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection,” the NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme), said in a statement.
The adult occupant protection was good and robust. The child occupant protection rating was only two stars due to the forward facing positioning of the 18 month old dummy in the test though the 3 year old dummy received good protection, said the vehicle safety watch dog.
The Renault Lodgy without airbags in its standard version achieved zero stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. The zero star result was partly due to the lack of airbags which caused the head and chest to impact the steering wheel. The car also showed an unstable structure during the crash with deformations even in the rear door and a rupture in the footwell area during the crash, said the statement.
"The four star result for Maruti Suzuki’s Vitara Brezza clearly demonstrates the safety engineering capabilities of India’s leading vehicle manufacturer. It also shows the beneficial effects of the Indian Government’s new crash test standards helping to raise levels of vehicle safety. We are getting very close now to seeing India’s first five star car. In contrast the zero star Renault Lodgy is extremely disappointing," David Ward, Global NCAP Secretary General, said
Indian developed cars like the Vitara Brezza together with the Tata Nexon, previously published in August, are clear evidence of the steady improvement in the Indian automotive industry and show a significant potential for much safer cars in the near future, he said.
Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) in 2014 had launched Safer Cars for India campaign with the objective of promoting safer vehicles in the country. Between 2014 and 2017 Global NCAP has completed more than twenty-five safety assessments which have acted as an important catalyst in the safety improvement of Indian cars.
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