New Delhi: Global NCAP announced its ratings for three passenger vehicles under the #SaferCarsForIndia campaign. The three tested cars are Honda Amaze, Mahindra Bolero Neo, and Kia Carens. Honda Amaze and Bolero NEO have performed poorly while Kia Carens outshined in its retesting with three stars in adult safety and five stars for child occupants.
Honda Amaze: One of the three cars tested in GNCAP is Honda Amaze which has achieved two stars rating for adult and zero stars for child occupant safety. Honda Amaze comes with two airbags and was tested under the previous Global NCAP protocols achieving four stars for adult and 1 star for child occupant protection. Amaze received 27.85 points out of the maximum 34 points in adult safety ratings while in child safety ratings the car secured 8.58 points out of the maximum 49 points.
Honda Amaze was reassessed under the current and more stringent protocols resulting in two stars for adult and zero stars for child occupant protection. Child protection showed head contact in the frontal impact for both dummies, high loadings in the chest and neck of the three year old child and ejection risk in the 1.5 years old dummies, said the GNCAP.
The absence of three-point seat belts in every seating location, the lack of a passenger airbag disconnect switch, and issues with the installation of some CRS contribute to the vehicle’s zero-star rating for child occupant protection.
As for adult protection, it received a low score due to the absence of optional side head protection, limited Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) functionality for the driver only, and the non-standard inclusion of ESC.
Mahindra Bolero Neo: The Mahindra Bolero Neo has performed poorly with only one star for both adult and child occupant safety. Bolero Neo SUV which comes with two airbags was tested under Global NCAP’s latest protocols. The SUV secured 20.26 points out of the maximum 34 points in adult safety ratings while it secured 12.71 points out of the maximum of 49 points in child safety ratings.
Mahindra Bolero Neo demonstrated low protection for adult protection in the frontal crash with an unstable structure, unstable footwell area, weak chest protection for the driver and poor feet protection. The front impact protection showed a significant difference with side impact protection. The model does not offer side head protection, not even as optional and SBR are not present according to Global NCAP requirements, as per the GNCAP.
Child occupant protection performed in a much better manner however was affected by the lack of 3 point belts in all seating positions, lack of passenger airbag disconnect switch and the decision to only allow one CRS to be installed in the car. Due to CRS failing, Bolero Neo scored low in CRS ratings. The Bolero Neo offers side seating benches which pose a significant risk for all occupants as Mahindra falls disappointingly short of Global NCAP’s safety expectations as it has continued to use such seating patterns.
Kia Carens: The Kia Carens which had originally failed in its GNCAP testing with zero star ratings for adult protection outshined after some improvements from the manufacturer’s side. After a retest, Kia Carens has achieved three stars in adult safety and five stars for child occupants. Carens achieved 22.07 points out of the maximum 34 points in adult safety ratings and secured 41 points out of maximum 49 points in child safety ratings.
Kia Carens which comes with six airbags was tested under the previous Global NCAP protocols reaching three stars for adult and child occupant protection. After the reassessment under the new protocols (2022) the improvement of the structure was there but the test showed high neck values for the driver, resulting in zero stars for adult occupant protection.
Kia swiftly responded to enhance neck performance by upgrading the restraint systems after the test.
Following a recent assessment, the model demonstrated advancements but fell short of Global NCAP’s expectations, despite having six airbags it resulted in a three-star rating. For this reason, the side pole impact was not assessed.
However, there were enhancements in child occupant protection through the implementation of i-Size approval for CRS and the provision of standard 3-point seat belts in all seating positions.
After a new test the model showed improvements but not the performance that Global NCAP expected as the Carens offers six airbags as standard, limiting the car to the three-star performance.
Alejandro Furas, Global NCAP Secretary General, said, “We were disappointed to see Mahindra’s one star rating for the Bolero Neo. This falls well below the safety performance we have come to expect from the manufacturer. There has been an improvement in Kia’s rating for the Carens since our original test when the model scored a zero rating for adult occupant protection. However we were expecting a better performance in the retest given the Carens is fitted with six airbags as standard.”
“Regrettably Honda did not take the opportunity to update the Amaze with more safety features which explains its disappointing score,” Furas added.
In the justification received from the company, Honda stated, “The South Africa spec 2nd Generation Amaze has already been tested as 4 star by GNCAP in 2019. The latest test based on a new protocol shows that the total score is of 5-star level. However mainly due to requirement of certain equipment like Electronic Stability Control and Side Curtain Airbags, it resulted in lower rating. At Honda, our unwavering commitment to safety is evident in the meticulous engineering of our products, integrating advanced active and passive safety technologies across our entire model range. We are dedicated to continuously work to enhance our vehicles on all parameters of Safety and improve them further at model change timing.”
