[SS-Traveller]

Curiously, the 2020-21 LatinNCAP test result for ALL cars tested, which include the
- Ford Ka
- Hyundai HB20
- Kia Picanto
- Renault Duster
- Suzuki Swift
is very consistent - they all get a perfect zero star rating.

The reason is in the LatinNCAP website itself:



They made their test so stringent that all cars they tested, received zero stars. Something like, the CBSE examiners setting an exam so tough that everyone and their parents taking the exam, fail.

So it would not be fair to speculate about the safety aspects of cars based on the Latin NCAP. If they were serious about their ratings like ANCAP (where no car receiving less than 5 or at least 4 stars is allowed to be sold in the country), there wouldn't be any carmaker selling any car in that region!

[shancz]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

So it would not be fair to speculate about the safety aspects of cars based on the Latin NCAP. If they were serious about their ratings like ANCAP (where no car receiving less than 5 or at least 4 stars is allowed to be sold in the country), there wouldn't be any carmaker selling any car in that region!

Thanks, I had suspected the same.
IMO it isn't fair to look at test results from other NCAP and start calling names to car makers. If they didn't build for those markets those tests don't apply. In the same way if suddenly the authorities mandate every DL holder to go through the Swedish DL tests and start calling names to all those who failed.

We should be focussing and pushing manufacturers for the GNCAP ratings under the #safercarsforindia initiative and also improve ourselves too.

Talking about EuroNCAP, ASEAN NCAP, ANCAP or anything else makes no difference apart from making unnecessary noise.

But facts are facts, on safety TML cars are superior to MSIL cars excluding the exceptions on either side. Deriving from GNCAP results.

Won't digress into other areas as that would be off topic

[SN88]

An ideal Indian car would be 50% Tata and 50% Maruti Suzuki, wish they had a baby together

They should probably collaborate and give us a safe and reliable car as it seems neither can do both on their own!!

[SaiSW]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Look at it. All the manufacturers who are highlighting safety have fundamental weakness in their respective ownership experiences. At the end of the day building a safe car is no biggie. But building it and at the same time ensuring completeness in the rest of the ownership experience is what takes the cake. And that is where Maruti and Toyota have hit the ball so far out of the park that 1.0s, 2.0s, tweets of brand directors and below the belt ads simply cannot conquer. Period.

If it is no "biggie" then why aren't Maruti able to do it for all of their cars? If they are unable to even do something which is supposedly not a "biggie", then that must mean they are absolutely useless.

Jokes aside, the real reason is simple. They survive off flooding the market with cheap lightweight tincans and if they actually cared about stuff like safety and build quality, they will no longer be able to stuff a thousand cars under the 10 lacs price range.

And I cannot believe that you mentioned Maruti in the same sentence as Toyota. There is no comparison, Toyota cars are ages ahead of any Maruti. Difference between Toyota and Maruti is that one basically survives off their dealership coverage, while the other not only offers a much better ownership experience compared to Maruti, but also knows how to build safe cars irrespective of what their profit margins will be. Even the Liva and Etios, which used to be two of their cheapest offerings, scored a more than respectable 4 stars in the crash test, something Maruti cannot relate to very often.

Regards,

Sai

[JJay]

Originally Posted by SN88

An ideal Indian car would be 50% Tata and 50% Maruti Suzuki, wish they had a baby together

They should probably collaborate and give us a safe and reliable car as it seems neither can do both on their own!!

And the result could be unsafe and less reliable babies as well.

Sorry mods for the one-liner, just couldn't resist.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by SN88

An ideal Indian car would be 50% Tata and 50% Maruti Suzuki, wish they had a baby together

They should probably collaborate and give us a safe and reliable car as it seems neither can do both on their own!!

Great thought, but just think what if the baby had Maruti's unsafe body and Tata's unreliablity?

[NKB]

Originally Posted by shibujp

At the end of the day building a safe car is no biggie. But building it and at the same time ensuring completeness in the rest of the ownership experience is what takes the cake. And that is where Maruti and Toyota have hit the ball so far out of the park that 1.0s, 2.0s, tweets of brand directors and below the belt ads simply cannot conquer. Period.

Unfortunately to my mind making a safer car is the biggest. For me peace of mind is most necessary while behind the wheel on the highway with my dear ones in the car. You cannot have that peace of mind in a tincan with Zero safety rating. If a car is not safe it CONNOT BE COMPLETE.

One of the misconceptions is that adding X numbers of Airbags makes the car safer. If the structure of the car is not safe to withstand impact at relatively higher speeds, Airbags are of no use. There are cars which have got 5 stars ratings with 2 Airbags and there are cars with more Airbags have scored low to Zero ratings.

Originally Posted by gkveda

I agree TATA cars are always safer than Maruti cars. Reason being, most of the times, TATA Cars are in service centers for repair work and if, in case, they get on to the roads, they will be stranded somewhere in mid of the road automatically without any accidents.

This seems from some other era on some other planet. Take out your car go around the city of Bangalore, you will see so many Nexons, Tiagos, Harriers happily roaming around and not only those, you will find many Indica as well still rolling on the roads.

[giri1.8]

It's weird that people think that driving a Maruti is certain death and driving a Tata will help them and their family live upto 100 years. There are thousands of ways for a road accidents to occur, lab test like frontal impact is probably rare as one has to consider the speed difference, height of the bumper of both the vehicles involved, weight difference and so on. 5 stars safety is only an indication of the chances of survival, zero star doesn't mean one will get killed instantly after a 10km/hr crash, 5 star doesn't mean one can walk away from a 100km/hr head-on crash with a dump truck.

Attaching a sheet with leading cases of death, health is clearly the biggest factor for a long healthy life, just because I am fit and choose to have a healthy lifestyle doesn't give me right to mock others. Fit Maruti owner might outlast a chubby 5 star rated car owner by a huge margin.

Don't forget that crash test regulations keep changing, If NCAP says cars without curtain airbags get zero star that doesn't make Nexon unsafe tincan. Expecting everyone to behave the way you expect is the height of entitlement. If you don't like a car they buy something else.

-Ex Tata owner.

[shortbread]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Attaching a sheet with leading cases of death, health is clearly the biggest factor for a long healthy life, just because I am fit and choose to have a healthy lifestyle doesn't give me right to mock others. Fit Maruti owner might outlast a chubby 5 star rated car owner by a huge margin.

just because I am fit and choose to have a healthy lifestyle doesn't give me right to mock others.

Agreed there is no need to mock, albeit one's doctor could advice a patient to get fitter and lead a healthier lifestyle to prolong his/her lifespan. Similarly promoting a safer vehicle is to ensure security of the passengers in a road mishap is good advice. The ad is targeting a product, not mocking people personally.

Fit Maruti owner might outlast a chubby 5 star rated car owner by a huge margin.

I would like to know how one comes to the conclusion Maruti owners are fitter hence outlive other car owners by a 'huge margin'!

Also in a serious car accident it makes sense to rely on the car's structural fitness to take the impact, as most human bodies however fit would fare poorly.

While the logic is quite novel and interesting, imagine someone not wearing a helmet on a two wheeler based on the theory I am fitter than the chubby guy with the helmet!

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by shortbread

Fit Maruti owner might outlast a chubby 5 star rated car owner by a huge margin.

I would like to know how one comes to the conclusion Maruti owners are fitter hence outlive other car owners by a 'huge margin'!

Also in a serious car accident it makes sense to rely on the car's structural fitness to take the impact, as most human bodies however fit would fare poorly.

While the logic is quite novel and interesting, imagine someone not wearing a helmet on a two wheeler based on the theory I am fitter than the chubby guy with the helmet!

Its basic probability, statistics show one has higher chance of death from health related issues(especially heart disease) than road accidents, I just simplified it. May people seem to correlate death as the ultimate result of having a Maruti ( They tone is like certain death).

I am just saying, let's not see everything in black and white. We just need basic safety rating for all cars, let the customer choose what they want. Getting mad at someone else's choice is silly.

[Geta]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Its basic probability, statistics show one has higher chance of death from health related issues(especially heart disease) than road accidents, I just simplified it. May people seem to correlate death as the ultimate result of having a Maruti ( They tone is like certain death).

I am just saying, let's not see everything in black and white. We just need basic safety rating for all cars, let the customer choose what they want. Getting mad at someone else's choice is silly.

1) This is a forum of automotive enthusiasts. This is not a health/fitness forum. Here we discuss automobiles objectively. A lot of us think that Maruti is shortchanging it's buyers by compromising on safety. Personally I feel Marutis are unsafe even with conservative speeds when it comes to head on collisions and can not withstand any impact during a rollover (case in point: Nexon withstanding the heavy billboard falling on it. This gives us confidence on Nexon's ability to withstand a rollover. I personally dislike Nexon's quirky design and have taken potshots over Pratap Bose's tastes here many a time, but if I have to choose it over a Baleno, I will do it every single time.) I don't believe that all thise people dying in accidents were lousy drivers or were drag racing. Indian roads are full of unpredictability which can take even the most conservative drivers by surprise. Hence, the safer the car structurally, the better. If you have any objective evidence to prove your point, you are most welcome.

2) I don't believe in this "basic safety rating" thing. I will anyday choose the "safest" car within my budget.

Rgds.

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

I am just saying, let's not see everything in black and white. We just need basic safety rating for all cars, let the customer choose what they want. Getting mad at someone else's choice is silly.

I too believed in same, let folks buy what they want and what fits their bill. Some buyers might not take beyond 5KM city radius and want good fuel economy and reliable car, fair enough. But after reading few comment elsewhere, I feel we are the reason why Manufacturer skimp on safety. Had we bought lesser of these, manufacturers would definitely bring in more safety kit to woo customers. Why does Tata shout about safety? Because they know they cannot woo customers with relaibility or features. Yes we cannot change our priorities immediately but then small baby steps won't hurt.

I don't mean Maruti is all bad, but just like we vote and bring about changes for good, may be we can do something. For my next purchase I had shortlisted Swift, but may be now I might not. I will be happiest if Maruti makes them more safer based on customer requirements.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

They they should stop mocking other and correct themselves first!

What's worse is that, one can see five star safety reference in the below ad, guess who many cars here actually has 5 stars? Just two of the five cars shown, rest are either 4 or unrested. Had Nano had been successful they would have been singing a different song. I am an ex Tigor owner, just saying to avoid any fanboy attacking me for no reason.

https://Youtu.be/C0lOINvS2TQ

They still continue to congratulate themselves for something they haven’t achieved with the Harrier and Safari.



I congratulate them for increasing the safety standards of cars and making people aware in India, but mentioning not one but two cars that haven’t even been tested is wrong!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTR3lpft...dium=copy_link

[Maverick Avi]

Originally Posted by vishy76

Maruti Suzuki is not going to improve its safety record because Indians continue to buy them. Frankly speaking, Maruti doesn't have anything to lose at all here. It's customer base is static more or less. Their poor safety standards haven't come to light recently. It's been this way for more than half a decade now. I don't see any change in sales or customer sentiment at all.

Not only poor safety standards but some poor engineering also doesn't make much dent in their sales. New Wagon R for example has a very poor steering feedback and sub par A/c performance(ownership experience). Its out there in all major forums with people complaining and asking for fixes. And then next month you see Wagon R having the highest sales! So many people buy it just because their previous Maruti experience has been great.

I myself got Ford Aspire when I was out there searching for a sub compact car. It drives great on highways but I have had its share of niggles. A very stiff suspension which till date has not been acknowledged, rusting issues, petrol fuel smell inside cabin and lately a blown blower motor resistor. I am not used to visiting service centers other than once a year for annual service. Thats how it has been since last 22 years with my Marutis. I guess that is what most of India prefers and still goes for this brand.

Its good tactic by Tata to shake things a bit up for Maruti but they should also spend more time/funds/efforts to make their products trouble free.

[SN88]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

Great thought, but just think what if the baby had Maruti's unsafe body and Tata's unreliablity?

We already have that baby - Kia Seltos