[warrioraks]

It can only happen when:
1. People vote for safety through their pocket
2. Government pushes stricter policy/regulations

Just look at this statement that popped up today and you will know.

Should car companies follow Indian standards for crash tests or those of pvt agencies, asks Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava.

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/te...a-6162351.html

But on the other hand, I am really an optimist on this topic. The scene today is much better than what it was years ago:
1. Now people do tend to talk about safety more than ever
2. Some manufacturers have made it clear that they will follow the principle of Safe-by-Design no matter the segment
3. Other manufacturers with not so great build quality are being asked questions on how safe their products are
4. Government is slowly tightening the noose on safety without shocking/paralysing the auto industry

This has certainly resulted in a decent number of alternates available now if someone wants to prioritise safety. And it seems to be getting better and better.

One low hanging fruit that has not been explored but can really help is if the government makes it mandatory to showcase crash ratings of every vehicle being sold. Just like how they ask cigarette manufacturers to showcase health warnings. If the customers still go ahead and buy a less rated product, they were made aware!

[ABHI_1512]

As someone said above, value of life in India is very cheap. From what I can gather, there are only two ways by which safer cars will become norm:

1. Government intervention in framing up rules to make cars safer. I am surprised that of all things, the legislation to make safer cars for India is yet not thought of. Useless legislations are hogging limelight while the more genuine ones are not at all thought off. Automobile as a sector is treated as a cash cow in terms of taxation and hence as long as state is getting the revenue, nothing related to safety takes precedence. Although a start has been made but more needs to be done.

2. Customers should reject the unsafe cars to force the manufacturers in coming up with safer cars. Although, too tall a task in a country where people buy cars for Android/Apple car play and Bluetooth connectivity and not for the Airbags !! It’s commendable from Mahindra and Tata to come up with star rated cars when the big pocket manufacturers like Maruti and Hyundai are continuously coming up with lame excuses in their defence of not providing safer cars.

Dynamics take a precedence in a large and diverse country like India where income parity is vast. So instead of expecting people to reject unsafe cars, I think it’s the government to take a lead and come up with legislation to allow safer cars for India and at least give the indication that it cares for the value of life.

[libranof1987]

Existing OEMs with large market share: have no real motivation to rock the boat and do anything differently, especially something that reduces their margins.

New/Fringe OEMs: can get a little bold and market increased safety as a USP. We already see this with Tata. Volvo is a global leader but is so niche in India that their stance doesn't really have a huge impact on market dynamics.

Customers: overwhelming 50% choosing one OEM that gives safety features step-motherly treatment; they have misplaced priorities (sunroof, FE), so it is unlikely that consumer preference will drive any change

Govt. legislation: the only sliver of hope. Hopefully, this doesn't get watered down by the lobbying Maruti Suzuki carries out and ridiculous statements and claims made by their Chairman, clearly with vested interests.

External factors like NCAP ratings: hopefully, but doubtedly.

[fhdowntheline]

As long as Indian cars currently "meet" Bharat Safety standards, that's a Pass from the government perspective. I dont think they can do anything else unless they upgrade those standards to match Euro NCAP in all aspects. Thats not going to happen as long as we pile up 15 people in a Mahindra Commander/Trax or 6 people in a dangerous contraption called Piaggio Ape.
Meanwhile, the discerning lot amongst the buyers will have a better choice with this trend from Tata/Mahindra, that's all that can be said about this issue.

[Superleggera]

Govt can play a major role here. Govt need to build a criteria like A Five Star GNCAP rated car will get 5-10% reduction in registration fees. This will draw the interest of both Buyers and manufacturers.

[GrandTourer]

Like GTO said, only when it become law will manufacturers take safety seriously. Look at this video from carwow, where they talk about 13 least safe cars on Sale in UK. Most of these cars scored 3-4 stars. And these are the LEAST SAFE. In fact, barring the bottom two, all others scored at least 3 stars. Some even have 5 stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GPMKCXujC8

Only when Indian govt makes STRICT regulations for safety, will we have safe cars across the board.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by GTO

There is only one thing that can move the needle - strict government legislation & implementation.

Precisely.

Each of the manufacturers is ready and capable to turn out GNCAP 4-star and 5-star cars. In fact, most of the top end variants already are. Yet, this acute concern about safety is because
A) the government refuses to legislate the need for certain safety features that save lives (e.g. at least 2 or even 6/7 airbags instead of 1, ABS with EBD, bodyshell integrity in crashes, higher speed of crash testing - 64 kmph instead of 56 kmph, rollover protection etc.). If the government doesn't want it, why would the manufacturer offer it in the lower (or even top-end) variants? The tin-can Celerios and Swifts made in Manesar end up being exported to Australia for example, where they are rated at ANCAP 5 stars (because their government won't allow anything with lesser stars to be sold.)
B) GNCAP (and whatever other testing agencies) pick up the lowest variant to test. It would be interesting to see what ratings are received by the top-end variants of the Indian cars that get zero stars.

[Hayek]

I don’t see government regulation coming in. This is a country where the majority travels on two wheelers - often with 4 people on one. Auto rickshaws are allowed as public transport - and up to 7 people can legally travel in 3 wheelers. So surviving a crash at 56 kmph is an esoteric requirement - that applies only to people like us.

So how do we get manufacturers to move? Only through customer education and customer action. It was only after Ralph Nader published “Unsafe at Any Speed” that the US auto industry made safety a priority. The publicity given to the GNCAP results, the fact that Mahindra and Tata have made safety a differentiator are positive steps. Hopefully, if Maruti sees itself losing 5-6% share of customers who are more safety conscious, they will come out with models that do well in GNCAP - even if their core sales are from death traps. I do hope Seltos sales fall in coming months - but in the absence of a direct competitor, that is unlikely. It’s only when at least a segment of customers vote with their wallets that Suzuki, Hyundai and Kia will move - and Tata and Mahindra will sustain their thrust on safety.

[Nikhildrao]

How about different Gst tax slabs for each safety rating? This way it might make more economical sense to buy the safer car. This might be the only way to lure Indians to buy safe cars.

[airbus]

Only Government regulations will help in forcing manufacturers to bring safer cars on Indian roads. While awareness about safety is slowly increasing, but still number of customers demanding safety are not enough to motivate some of our largest vehicle manufacturers to put more emphasis on safety.

[abhi7013]

Hoping that this is the relevant thread to post this screen shot. I guess we deserve this. As long as the government and its people turn a blind eye to safety and customers just want those features, we will be offered sub-standard cars.
Suzuki has made it clear ample times: they will only do the bare minimum to meet safety standards set by the govt, buy it or leave it.

[wilful]

I’ve always had a couple of questions popping in my mind for a while about GNCAP.
Do manufacturers voluntarily send their cars for testing or does NCAP pick them independently or is it a mix of both?
If manufacturers send them voluntarily, what is to prevent them from a bit of cheating ie adding extra safety on the car being sent for testing vis a vis their cars being sold in the market ?
Also what happens when they delete certain features after these tests in the name of optimisation? Are the ratings not affected? (For eg. the deletion of the centre rear headrest in the 5 star Mahindra XUV300)?

[Quinn]

Originally Posted by GTO

How did ABS become compulsory in this country? The law.

Bingo. I see in a lot of our forums, there were discussions about people should prefer safety. An average Joe looks at money and makes a decision. A guy riding a bike will always feel Alto is safer than a bike. Agree that to some extent awareness helped some people but still it is a long way to go. With Government imposing a stringent law, it will happen swiftly. People who buy will buy if there is no option even if there is more money to pay.

[DonHyd]

There is an argument that as long as you don't meet with an accident, even a zero star car is safe. Even the safest car costing upwards of 1 crore can't protect you if the crash happens above 100kmph. Personally I would buy only a car with stable body structure and minimum 4 stars. But I don't think government can mandate safety standards. There are still millions of people who don't mind buying unsafe cars and save few bucks. They should have a choice.

[hema4saran]

The government has to take strict actions like how they did BS6 implementation. When other countries are planning to ban the petrol/diesel cars in near future, we can very well ban the sale of unsafe cars by providing a strict timeline. Most of these manufacturers are capable of making at least 3* rated cars as we seen from many examples. But simply they won't do as it will affect their cash registers.

I am waiting for the demise of Maruti for their sheer arrogance and high handedness on making lot of tin cans and taking a jibe at TATA about safe cars. It is a commendable effort by TATA to set a benchmark on safety. It is about time that they bring in quality products and decent after sales support to take their product portfolio to further heights.