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I got a forward on Facebook, wherein a Baleno has rear ended an Old XC60, can’t really make out if any damage has been sustained by the Volvo, but the Baleno looks trashed. The incident has probably occurred in Kerala, as the cars are having a Kerala number, but no idea where and when.

Not sure where the rear crumple zone of the XC60 is. If it has one and gets activated, it would look bad as well. (speaking in general) Because of the front crumple zone on modern cars, the weaker car while looking bad actually keeps the occupants safer. It certainly looks bad, and is probably totaled, but would give a better chance at survival for the occupant.

Got 2 more pics of the same incident. It clearly shows the damage suffered by the Volvo.

Another celebrity dies on the YEW - Singer Shivani Bhatia.

https://www.msn.com/en-in/video/news...eat/vp-BBSVFR1

The car was apparently an i20 though the ORVMs look like those of the Grand i10 to me.

The news says her husband lost control of the car when trying to overtake another car at high speeds, when will people learn to respect their vehicle's limits??:deadhorse

My favourite aspect is, the part the "Maruti-Suzuki Baleno" has hit is the Volvo's weakest part - it's made of "MS" according to pictures of their CMA. Mild Steel v/s Maruti Suzuki.



One can argue about build quality, crumple zones, "heartect" and safety till the cows come home, but every time I see a Maruti like this, especially the Baleno/Dzire I go :uncontrol

Had it been the other way around (XC60 rear ending the Baleno), the end result (mangled state) would be the more or less the same for Baleno.

Totally in agreement with the crucial role of crumple zone in softening impacts and safeguarding occupants.

However the current trend in mass market cars targeted to Indian customers is to mislead them by associating a flimsy body shell/safety cage( as a result of cost cutting) with crumple zones and selling it as a feature.

Crumple zones should be placed at strategic zones around a high strength rigid passenger cell that resists deformation and provides a survivable space for passengers. Unfortunately, cost cutting measures are resulting poor vehicle frame/safety cage that deforms at the slightest impact greatly increasing the risk to passengers.

+1

Not an apple to apple comparison, but still relevant. Nearly 5 years back, I once front-ended a Maruti Omni at a T-junction at about 20-25 kmph (completely my fault). The Omni's side door completely caved in with a huge Vento bonnet sized curve dent on the right side of the Omni visible to all.

On the other hand, my car had just a few minor scratches on the bumper. Surprisingly the airbags didn't deploy (never wondered about it back then); and even the owner of the Omni could not fathom the difference in damage between my car and his car.

Of course, I paid up after some lengthy "negotiations".

This argument has run its course, I think. Until a threshold, the crumple zone has to elastically deform and absorb an impact, beyond that, it has to inelastically deform, and disperse the energy. MSIL has been selling this "crumple zone" argument for far too long now. It is supposed to come into play in major accidents, not a bumper kisser like this and result in serious radiator and engine damage. Minor accidents are expected to cause dents and scratches, not cause the entire front to cave in, like this. I too own a maruti, and I know how pathetic the cost cutting is.

Of course the difference in sheer mass between the two cars plays a role (the amount of change in momentum suffered by each, will be inversely proportional to the mass ratio) , but I am sure a chevy spark or even the nano would have fared better. Crumple zone is not an excuse to make the bumper/bonnet/fenders from soft-drink-can grade material.

Build quality debate is endless, but the first picture speaks volumes by itself regardless of the logo on the car.

The Baleno only has a thin strip of metal for a front crash member (the actual bumper), so it's just that, a couple inches of air and a thin layer of plastic cover separating the engine bay from whatever lies ahead. Damage guaranteed in any shunt except ones at crawling speeds.

Very true. But after all the details about the Baleno XC60 bromance discussed here, I think there is one thing that might be interesting to think about. After looking at the condition of both vehicles and how less the Volvo seems damaged comparatively, I still think the Volvo repair costs would turn out to be more, what with possible reverse sensors and all needing replacement.

On the other hand, even with the airbags(if deployed), radiator, fan/s, condenser, crash beam, bumper, both fenders, bonnet, repainting, headlights, Ac small parts and gas, etc, there's a chance the Baleno repair cost would sum up to a lesser amount. I'm just trying to figure and may be wrong on this but it's an interesting calculation. Of course, this is if we don't take insurance into the picture. Just raw costs.

In sheer money terms, it could turn out that one might need to spend more money to bring the Volvo back to factory specifications. However, when you look at it as a percentage of the value of the vehicle, the repair costs on the Baleno would turn out to be much much higher than that of the Volvo. The percentage calculation would be a more apt way to compare repair costs, wouldn't it?

I feel the Baleno should have hit some structure/heavy vehicle after scratching the Volvo as the condition of Baleno seems highly impossible with the Volvo suffering just paint loss.
Is there any news coverage/ or more pictures to understand the situation?

I'm more curious why so many Balenos end up rear-ending different cars.. this is almost the dozenth case reported here alone.

I personally witnessed one rear-ending an Etios, a flimsy (I'm NOT mentioning unsafe, but flimsy) car to begin with and while the Etios had a bumper misalignment after the bump, the Baleno had caved in about 3-4 inches and this was a <20 kmph bump with sufficient braking used as well.

My request is that let us all, also not freely use the word crumple-zone whenever Maruti comes into the picture. Crumple-zones are designed to give way to a certain degree at higher speeds i.e 60 kmph, to absorb some impact, while allowing the airbag sensors to respond and inflate before the rest of the structure holds in place as the airbags and seatbelts do their work. I have nothing against Maruti, as a former owner I know exactly how much they've diluted in quality though, its no great secret that Baleno and Swift are flimsy.

The problem is limited engines available to MSIL, just look at it: they have a 1L, 1.2L, 1.5L(latest) petrols and just one 1.3 L diesel. They have been milking these engines till the udders bleed, only way they extract performance & fuel efficiency from the cars is to make them lighter: New Swift is lighter by some 85 to 100kgs than the older version, Ciaz is again one of the lightest in the segment, Baleno is a tin can: what do you expect!!?? Our choices have seen some good cars bite the dust and mostly affordable tin cans sell by the thousands every month. So basically we're getting what we deserve.

So true.
Looking at many of the Baleno crash pics, if I may (with little bit of pun), then the whole car looks like a crumple zone, made to safeguard objects it may hit.
No offence to any Baleno patrons, the car is such a lovely package, really wish they had made it as safe as the polos and Nexons, it would have been one fabulous package.
However, to cut Baleno some slack, for many of the cases, we do not know the parameters around the crashes, and maybe Baleno is doing a ok job upto a particular speed.
In this particular scenario, it may be bit unfair to belittle the Baleno as, "maybe" a very small surface area of the volvo's rear bumper get to absorb all the energy exerted by the 600 or 500kgs (bit of pun again) of that Heartache:).