[Karthik Chandra]

Kudos to MSIL , they are in such dominant position that the next player is 60k units below and would not even be challenged in the near (distant) future, but till MSIL takes competition seriously and had worked towards improving the portfolio. One area where the company was criticised and bashed was the lack of focus on safety, now that is getting addressed.
This will push Honda's and Hyundai's think tank to counter attack which they can do only by adding safety features onto their existing portfolio as standard.
I guess slowly mass market will mature from kmpl to safety and thus we can except sturdier cars from MSIL. Everything needs a beginning and here is the start from the leader and other manufacturers have no choice but to follow suit.
I'm happy at the progress the Indian Auto industry has made in the last 1 year in terms of safety. All thanks to forums like ours and sensible people who insist on safety features.

[Eddy]

While this is good news, I do not see AMTs on LXI and VXI variants. Have they been discontinued ?

An LxI (O) AMT would have been the perfect second car !

[StarScream]

Kudos to Maruti for making safety features available across the range in the Celerio and Baleno, especially considering the statements that have come from them in the past. But I have a concern - in the case of the Celerio - this sounds like a bit of a gimmick because at its price point, I really don't think the car is built to a high structural integrity standard. And what good are airbags or ABS if the body shell deforms on impact?

I do believe that better build quality only starts to make an appearance in the Jazz/Baleno category and onwards.

[sagarpadaki]

Good move by Maruti to cater to the safety conscious consumer. However i have a doubt. Is the celerio structurally sound to protect the occupants in case of the crash? If the structure itself collapses like it did in swift then what help will Airbag do?

[DCEite]

This is a great step by Maruti.

A Celerio (and WagonR)AMT with dual airbags and ABS makes for a very nice, comfy and safe city car.

I hope Renault take a cue now and re-launch Kwid with dual ABS and Airbags standard, and specially in the upcoming AMT Kwid.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Good move by Maruti to cater to the safety conscious consumer. However i have a doubt. Is the celerio structurally sound to protect the occupants in case of the crash? If the structure itself collapses like it did in swift then what help will Airbag do?

Structure collapsed even in India Polo, i10, Grand etc.

If weak structure was the criteria for having Airbags and ABS, then 90% of cars < 10 lacs in India won't be eligible.

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Structure collapsed even in India Polo, i10, Grand etc.

If weak structure was the criteria for having Airbags and ABS, then 90% of cars < 10 lacs in India won't be eligible.

The Indian Polo and Figo actually had sound structures, as far as I recall. They failed crash tests because of a lack of airbags.

Despite the non sequitur of your second point, the question remains: what good are airbags in a weak structure?

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by StarScream

The Indian Polo and Figo actually had sound structures, as far as I recall. They failed crash tests because of a lack of airbags.

Despite the non sequitur of your second point, the question remains: what good are airbags in a weak structure?

Could you please define what qualifies as a "Weak Structure" and what does not? And how do you actually conclude that Celerio has a weak structure.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Eddy

While this is good news, I do not see AMTs on LXI and VXI variants. Have they been discontinued ?

An LxI (O) AMT would have been the perfect second car !

I stand corrected, AMT is available across all variants. Just that it's called AGS (auto gear shift) for L/Vxi and AMT for Zxi, I wonder why.

[Ragavsr]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Could you please define what qualifies as a "Weak Structure" and what does not? And how do you actually conclude that Celerio has a weak structure.

http://www.globalncap.org/ford-figo-...o-star-safety/

http://www.globalncap.org/india-vers...fety-standard/

Read both the articles where they certify that the Figo's structure is safe while the Hyundai i10's structure is unstable.

I own a Figo ZXI which lacks ABS and Airbags and I can feel the strong structure. The doors close with a heavy thud and in a rear ending accident my car came out with scratches while the other Honda City suffered more damages.

This is a case where the strong build quality of European and American cars is true while the tin can like build of Asian cars is proven unsafe.

Considering the Swift itself has an unstable structure, the Celerio will fare worser.

[StarScream]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Could you please define what qualifies as a "Weak Structure" and what does not? And how do you actually conclude that Celerio has a weak structure.

A weak structure is one where the body shell deforms on impact i.e. the roof and A-pillar deform, jamming the doors and there is ingress of the pedals, steering and dashboard leading to injuries.

As far as the Celerio is concerned, if you look at my first post on the subject I said for its price I have serious doubts about its build quality. Why do I think so? If a cheaper car (Alto 800) and a more expensive car (Swift) from the same manufacturer have unstable body structures, I assume the Celerio will be no different.

[karansm4u]

I went to two Maruti showroom today but sales guys there had no clue about Safety pack/option version in Lxi and Vxi of Celerio.
They also do not have any pricing information etc and no info on when it will be launched?

Does anyone here knows when these variants with safety packs are coming to showrooms so we can book them?

[McLaren Rulez]

http://www.latinncap.com/data/pdf/su...airbags-en.pdf

This looks like the A-Star, which apparently is still on sale in Latin America. Main point here: The body structure was classified as stable.

Can someone confirm that these ratings would apply to our old A-Star? I ask because the Latin NCAP Swift and the Indian Swift performed identically. If so, the Celerio (being the replacement for the A-Star) might not be a badly built car after all.

[Yeldo]

Originally Posted by karansm4u

I went to two Maruti showroom today but sales guys there had no clue about Safety pack/option version in Lxi and Vxi of Celerio.
They also do not have any pricing information etc and no info on when it will be launched?

Does anyone here knows when these variants with safety packs are coming to showrooms so we can book them?

The Celerio website now lists (O) variants across all the petrol and Diesel variants. AMT versions continue to come in LXi, VXi & ZXi versions, and all get Option package which includes dual front airbags and ABS.

The price list is yet to be updated.

Whether someone could actually buy an airbag + ABS variant is left to be seen. I think that the move to offer this (O) variant is simply to address the newfound hue and cry for better safety features.

Usually, if you approach any Maruti dealer and asks for a (O) variant of their small cars, a standard 3 months waiting period is what you get. Even if you go ahead with your booking, 3 months shall get pushed further and further until you get fed up and decide to go for the month's special edition with purple / pink / violet sticker work.

And by that 3 - 4 months, somehow your co- workers and friends are sure to have you convinced that airbags are useless and expensive on our roads where you could be crushed by that truck driver with one hand on the wheel and the other on his cellphone anyday.