New Hyundai Verna has joined the ranks with VW Virtus, Skoda Slavia, VW Taigun and Skoda Kushaq to score a 5 Star Rating in Global-NCAP test
As the Government of India and various other regulatory bodies try to enforce stricter safety standards for cars in India, buyers are also changing their perspective on safety standards. Automakers are keen to introduce higher safety standards on their vehicles to keep up with competition as the buyer’s attention is now turned from cars offering higher fuel efficiency to cars that boast of better safety.
Safest Cars In India – Oct 2023
6 airbags and ADAS are two features much in demand to offer better protection for occupants. These features along with ISOFIX mounts, better overall structure and driver assistance features were at one time considered a luxury but now are features demanded by every car buyer in the country. Global NCAP assesses vehicle safety and conducts various crash tests with special emphasis on frontal impact, side impact and also on pedestrian protection. Cars are rated on a scale of 0-5 with a 5 Star rating being the highest.
Cars from both Volkswagen and Skoda have taken charge of the list of cars with the highest safety rating as per GNCAP as per new protocols scoring higher points both in adult and child safety ratings. Global NCAP assesses vehicle safety by conducting various crash tests, including frontal impact, side impact, and pedestrian protection. The organization rates cars on a scale of 0 to 5 stars, with a higher star rating indicating better safety performance.
Top safest cars in India with a Global New Car Assessment Program (GNCAP) rating sees the Volkswagen Virtus at the top with a 5 Star rating both in adult and child occupant with 42 points scored out of 49 points and a total ranking of 71.71 points out of 83. The VW Virtus has advanced safety features, among which are 6 airbags, electronic stability control, park distance control, rear-view camera, hill hold assist, multi-collision brakes, etc.
It was followed by the Skoda Slavia with a similar rating while the VW Taigun scored a ranking of 71.64 points. Skoda Kushaq was at No. 4 and also with a 71.64 point rating. Thus making these two cars the safest in the country. The latest addition to the top 5 list was the new Hyundai Verna which has received a 5 Star GNCAP rating with 70.18 points out of 83 points.
Mahindra had Scorpio N added to the new GNCAP list with 5 Star rating in adult protection but with a 3 Star rating in child safety. Scorpio-N scored 29.25 points out of the maximum 34 points in adult protection category but only 28.93 points out of 49 points in child protection to a total ranking of 58.18 points out of 83 points. Mahindra Scorpio-N gets standard safety equipment such as dual front airbags, ABS, EBD and ISOFIX child seat mounts.
There were 5 models from Maruti Suzuki with a lower star rating of 1 and 2 stars. These included the Swift, Alto K10, S-Presso, WagonR and Ignis. Out of these, it was the Swift that scored 1 star both in adult and child safety respectively while Alto K10 that scored a 2 star in adult safety and 0 in child protection. S-Presso, WagonR and Ignis each scored 1 star each in adult protection and 0 in child protection under GNCAP.
GNCAP Rating as per Old Protocol
As per the older protocol it was the Mahindra XUV700 that carried the rating with 5 stars in adult and 4 stars in child protection to total 41.66 points out of 49 points and total ranking of 57.69 points out of 66. It was followed by the Tata Punch and Mahindra XUV300 each scoring a 5 Star rating in adult and 4 stars in child protection while Mahindra Thar had gained a 4 Star rating in both adult and child protection in GNCAP.
The list as per old protocol also had the 4th gen Honda City, Toyota Urban Cruiser, Tata Tigor EV and Tata Tiago. Each scored a 4 star rating in adult protection but a 3 star in child protection with the exception of Tigor EV that scored 4 stars. There was also the Tata Altroz that got a 5 star in adult and 3 star in child protection in GNCAP with 45.13 point rating out of 83 points.
