Re: Maruti Swift, Datsun Go fail Global NCAP tests too... This post of mine is not about how compromised the safety of cars sold in India is or about the necessity of various passive safety elements. That has been discussed at length on this thread.
What I want to know is the intent behind the witch hunt that Max Mosley has launched against Nissan and Carlos Ghosn. We all know that Max Mosley who was the ex President of the FIA is a highly political and therefore controversial figure. His role in the Ferrari/McLaren spy gate is well documented and he did not hesitate to try and bankrupt McLaren by imposing a 100 million British Pounds fine on the company. McLaren boss Ron Dennis had to make way for Martin Whitmarsh to escape further victimisation by Max Mosley.
Rumour has it that it was Ron Dennis who was at the forefront of a sting operation on Max Mosley's involvement with prostitutes and his playing a Nazi in a sex orgy that was broken to the world by the News of the World tabloid. Somewhere in all that print were the names of Flavio Briatore and Carlos Ghosn mentioned because of the Alonso gate scandal that happened along with the spy gate scandal. Carlos Ghosn was the head of Renault-Nissan and it is believed that there was a problem between Mosley and Ghosn.
After the Datsun Go failed the NCAP tests, Max Mosley exceeded his brief by writing a letter to Carlos Ghosn about the abject lack of safety in the car's construction and even suggested its withdrawal from the Indian market. This was the second time that Mosley was writing about safety to Ghosn and both the times Ghosn ignored his letters. Nissan came up with a statement that the NCAP was not a statutory body and that it did not have the power to recommend the withdrawal of cars from markets. Not only did Mosley write the letter he leaked its contents to the media and made this a public affair. People have the right to know, so fair enough.
After being ignored by Ghosn, Max Mosley now says he plans to write to the Prime Minister of Japan about the unsafe construction of the Datsun Go (you can read his interview on this issue on the Autocarpro.in website). This is where things turn most interesting. Nissan maybe a Japanese company but it is not selling the car in Japan. It is an India specific car (at least so far). So if he was really serious about the safety of Indians he should have been writing to statutory Indian authorities and advising them to get the car off the road (though he enjoys no such powers). If you read the many posts on this thread, a number of readers have been scathing in their criticism of Maruti because the Swift also failed the NCAP. Whenever, the spokesmen of either Maruti or Nissan have said that their cars were built to the standards set by governments in India, Indonesia and Thailand, the members of the Team-BHP have expressed outrage.
Now consider this. All most all Indian cars (with the exception of the Polo/Vento and Figo) have done terribly in the NCAP tests and all of them came back with the same spectacular results. Mosley was quite about all the cars that failed. He was quite about the Swift that failed along with the Go. But he chose to attack the Datsun Go. The fact that he has kept silent about all the other cars that failed the test gives credence to the claims of the respective car makers that their cars meet the standards of construction set by the government of India (apart from Indonesia and Thailand). Otherwise why is Mosley not addressing these bodies and why is he not writing to the Prime Ministers/Presidents of these countries? Why to the Prime Minister of Japan? What jurisdiction does he have over cars manufactured in India?
Meanwhile sales in November have got into three figures as far as the Datsun Go is considered. So it is obvious that Max Mosley has a hidden agenda (which maybe known to Ghosn). Here is a question for all of us? When things are so political with the "honest" and "non-governmental" agencies, can we really trust them? If people like Mosley instead of concentrating on safety issues and providing suggestions which are constructive focus on personal issues then they are only confusing the consumer who has nothing to do with these politics. I am sure everyone agrees with that argument.
As far as consumers are concerned we now have to be doubly careful and vigilant. Not only should we now believe that all that glitters is not gold; we should also believe that all that is spoken by the likes of Mosley is not necessarily true of wise. That was the point behind my long post. Thanks for bearing with me. |