Thursday, February 13, 2020
By Manoj Kumawat
Maruti Suzuki Cars Will Not Undergo Global NCAP Test
The safety stars granted to any vehicle during the global NCAP test is an assurance of safety features embellished in it. Going through this all vehicle manufacturers get their vehicles to undergo the test to promote the appreciation received from the global NCAP. The latest vehicle tested by the group is the premium hatchback Altroz by the domestic carmaker Tata Motors. The hatchback succeeded in receiving a five-star rating (for adult occupants). Commenting on the results achieved by the Altroz, Mr. David Ward, the CEO, and President, Global-NCAP, has asked all the major car manufacturers mainly the Maruti Suzuki India Limited, to manufacture such vehicles that are capable of scoring high ratings in the global NCAP test. But, surprisingly instead of agreeing on the recommendations made by the agency, the country’s leading car manufacturing company Maruti Suzuki India Limited has refused to send its any of the upcoming for the test.
Commenting on this Mr. CV Raman, Senior Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said, “As far as Maruti Suzuki is concerned, we believe that all safety regulations which are mandated by the government and the recently introduced offset side-impact and pedestrian regulation we are meeting..going forward SIAM as a body with the manufacturer are working to bring out the BNCAP. Anything that is led or driven by the government and recognized by the government is something that we would be looking at. Any other agency, it’s okay for the strategy of other manufacturers but Maruti Suzuki would like to work within the ambit of the Indian government regulations.
It would be interesting to know that although the results revealed by the agency conducting the Global NCAP are regarded as the standards of safety measures by the manufacturers in most of the countries, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has a different opinion. According to a statement given by the SIAM authorities, “Global-NCAP is merely an NGO with its own safety standards and it is not an authority when it comes to setting standards of safety”.
Moving ahead, the government of India is going to implement its own mandatory crash tests under the Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP), which will follow the same pattern of rating the vehicles as adopted during the global NCAP test. The implementation of this program is believed to improve the integration of safety features in the upcoming vehicles.
