Wednesday, April 05, 2023
By Kamal Swami
Is It Unsafe To Drive Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 And WagonR?
Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker, is facing scrutiny once again for the safety of its cars after two of its most popular hatchbacks, the Alto K10 and WagonR, performed poorly at recent Global NCAP crash tests. The Alto K10 received a two-star rating, while the WagonR received only one star, making them some of the lowest-rated cars by the global agency. Despite the poor ratings, Maruti Suzuki has downplayed the significance of the results, stating that all its cars meet India's crash safety regulations, which are almost similar to the standards in Europe and are duly tested and certified by the Government of India.
Maruti Suzuki cars have a history of poor performance in crash tests conducted by agencies such as Global NCAP. Previous models tested by the agency, including the Swift, S-Presso, and Ignis, received just one star each in the adult occupant protection category. However, Maruti Suzuki maintains that all the cars it manufactures for the Indian market have ample safety features that meet mandatory government requirements, and the carmaker also offers additional safety features such as Hill-Hold assist, 360-degree view camera, and HuD display.
The company claims that safety has always been a top priority and will continue to be one in the future, with a focus on keeping pace with Bharat NCAP, India's own vehicle safety assessment agency, which is expected to start conducting crash tests of vehicles manufactured in the country from this year. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued a draft notification in June 2022, stating that these tests would start in April. The notification clearly lays out the process and steps each vehicle will go through before the agency shares its safety ratings and mentions the categories for which the cars will be tested.
Global NCAP is keen to see how Maruti cars fare in Bharat NCAP crash tests, with David Ward, President of the Towards Zero Foundation, challenging Maruti Suzuki to catch up with other leading domestic manufacturers, as well as Volkswagen and Skoda, and demonstrate their commitment to road safety and customer protection. While Maruti Suzuki believes that the Bharat NCAP, an India-specific safety rating process, will be more meaningful for Indian consumers, critics argue that the company needs to take global ratings agencies' results more seriously and make necessary improvements to their cars' safety features.
