Fronx will be in the second batch of cars to be sent for crash testing.
At the sidelines of the announcement of the Fronx’s 1 lakh sales milestone, Shashank Srivastava, executive director, Maruti Suzuki, revealed that there are three models heading to Bharat NCAP for crash testing. The Maruti Baleno, Grand Vitara and Brezza will be the first models from the brand to be sent for BNCAP testing.
- Maruti Fronx will be sent in the second batch
- Made-in-India Baleno scored poorly on Latin NCAP tests
- Previous-gen Brezza got 4-star rating from Global NCAP
Maruti Suzuki safety record
Srivastava also confirmed that the Fronx will be a part of the second batch that Maruti will send later. Unfortunately, Maruti’s cars in India have gotten a bad rap for being unsafe as the models tested by Global NCAP under its Safer Cars for India campaign, usually scored poorly. There were two Maruti models – Alto K10 and Wagon R – tested by Global NCAP in 2023 and neither got more than 2 stars for adult occupancy; they both also scored zero stars for child occupancy protection. In response to the complaints, in 2022, Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava had said, “I can say with complete confidence that putting in NCAP standards in cars will have no significant impact on the number of accidents.”
While the Maruti Baleno has not been tested by Global NCAP, the made-in-India premium hatchback didn’t do well on the Latin NCAP crash tests, securing a zero-star rating. Naturally the norms used by the Latin American safety organisation are different from the ones used by Global NCAP and Bharat NCAP, but a low rating can, nonetheless, affect perception of a vehicle.
Global NCAP did test the previous-gen Brezza compact SUV (it was called the Vitara Brezza then) in 2018, and this was the first, and so far only, Maruti model to get a more than adequate crash test rating – the Kia Sonet rival managed a 4-star adult occupancy rating and 2 stars for child occupancy.
Maruti’s Grand Vitara is a recent entrant, and had not been tested by the global car safety organisation. However, Maruti hopes this midsize SUV – along with the premium hatch and compact SUV – will do well on the Bharat NCAP’s crash tests, thereby mitigating some of the ‘tin-can’ complaints.
Bharat NCAP crash tests
The first test results from Bharat NCAP were released in December last year (a delay of two months), with the Tata Harrier and Safari scoring the highest rating of 5 stars. Meanwhile, Hyundai’s first BNCAP tested car is expected to be the Tucson, and it is expected to be followed by the Exter. For an in-depth look at the BNCAP crash test norms, click here.
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