Tata Nexon, the group’s hot-selling compact SUV, has emerged as the safest car in India among those tested by a UK-based agency.
Nexon, which was launched last year and is equipped with front airbags, emerged with five stars after crash tests. The results are bound to give a boost to the prospects of a car that has swiftly risen to No.2 by sales in its category, ahead of the Ford Ecosport but still well behind Maruti Suzuki’s Vitara Brezza.
The Tata car has improved its safety score from earlier this year, when it was awarded four stars. The Nexon has scored three out of five stars in child safety, the same as in the last round of testing.
The tests were conducted by the UK-based Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP).
The recently launched Mahindra Marazzo, with two airbags, was given a four-star rating for adults in the front seats and two stars for rear-seat child safety.
Among the other cars tested by NCAP in 2018, the multi-purpose airbag-less Renault Lodgy scored zero for the front row, but managed two stars for the child seating.
Encouragingly, carmakers appear more willing to invest in safety, mindful of the hazards of driving on Indian roads. Airbags are increasingly seen as a necessity, and carmakers have been installing them in more and more models.
For example, the Mahindra Scorpio did not have airbags when tested in 2016, but the current version offers airbags for the driver and front passenger.
The Renault Duster, with just the driver airbag and tested last year, scored just three and two stars respectively. However, the current Duster has two airbags for the middle and top end variant, while the base model comes with no airbags.
When it comes to the small cars, the Hyundai Eon had no airbags and scored very poorly in crash tests conducted two years ago. Again, the Korean auto giant has since added a driver airbag to the car.
Toyota seem to have done their homework well and had scored four stars with two front airbags even back in 2016. However, the child safety then was two stars.
