The Union government has revealed the results of the first batch of cars that were put through the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) safety assessments. Of the 13 cars that were crash-tested, 11 from brands like Tata, Mahindra, and Volkswagen have aced the tests, with many scoring impressively in both adult occupant and child occupant safety assessments.
Also read: Kia Sonet. Reboot.
While the SUVs from Tata have been officially awarded the safety rating by Bharat NCAP, the results of other cars published on Bharat NCAP's official website are from Global NCAP, which continues to test cars sold in India under the 'Safer Cars For India' campaign, as the testing methods of both Bharat NCAP and Global NCAP are very similar, and it helps avoid confusion.
Let us take a detailed look at the results of some of the best performers in the safety assessments.
Tata
2023 Harrier
Scoring 33.05 points for adult occupant protection and 45 points for child occupant protection, the facelifted Tata Harrier has been awarded five stars for both adult and child protection. The facelifted Harrier comes with several safety features, like seven airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
2023 Safari
Like the refreshed Harrier, the facelifted Safari has also scored five stars for both adult and child occupant protection, with 33.05 points and 45 points, respectively. It met all the requirements to pass the frontal, side, and side pole impact tests, and the bodyshell integrity is classified as stable with the ability to withstand further loadings.
Mahindra
XUV700
The Mahindra XUV700 is another SUV that scored rather highly at the safety assessments conducted by Global NCAP. It was awarded 16.03 points out of a possible 17 for adult protection and 41.66 points out of 49, and thus was given five stars for adult protection and four for child occupant safety. The XUV700 has a stable bodyshell and footwell area and can withstand further loadings.
Scorpio-N
The new Scorpio-N from Mahindra scored five stars, or 29.25 out of 34 points, for adult occupant protection and three stars, or 28.93 out of 49 points, for child occupant protection. The SUV was found to have a stable bodyshell and footwell area, capable of withstanding further loadings. Its performance was reduced due to certain safety features being optional.
Skoda
Kushaq
The Kushaq, Skoda's most affordable compact SUV for the Indian market, scored five stars for both adult and child occupant protection, having scored 29.64 out of 34 points for adult occupants and 42 out of 49 for child occupant protection.
Volkswagen
Virtus
In the Global NCAP safety assessments, the smallest sedan sold by Volkswagen currently scored 29.71 points out of 34 for adult occupant protection, and there were five stars. For child occupant protection, the sedan scored five stars with 42 points out of a possible 49. It demonstrated commendable safety despite not being equipped with some advanced safety technologies.
Hyundai
2023 Verna
The new generation Verna from Hyundai joins the list of ultra-safe cars on sale in India with five stars for both adult occupant protection and child protection. It scored 28.18 points out of 34 for the former and 42 points out of 49 for the latter. However, its footwell and bodyshell were rated as unstable and not capable of withstanding further loadings.
With Bharat NCAP set to test more cars in the months to come, the government-certified safety ratings of popular cars sold in the market will be published in time.