Car safety: Top safe made-in-India cars

Gone are the days when Indian car buyers were more concerned about the fuel efficiency and price of a vehicle, instead of any other aspects. In the third decade of the 21st century, new-age buyers are more focused on technology, features, and of course the safety. Keeping pace with the changing customer demand, the automakers are also evolving their products accordingly.

No more tin cans, the modern cars tend to come with a host of features, a stronger bodyshell, and technologies that make them safer than their previous generation models. Safety features like airbags, ABS, EBD are becoming increasingly common for even the entry-level models.

In the recent past, car safety in India has grabbed a lot of attention, considering the fact that the country is among the tops ones with an alarmingly high rate of casualties and severe injuries due to road accidents. Accept it or not, despite the increased awareness about care safety, still, a large number of car buyers neglect the importance of it, which results in a significant chunk of nearly 5 lakh road accidents India witness every year, causing around 1.5 lakh lives.

With the government’s aim to bring down the number of road accidents and fatalities by 20-25% by 31st March 2021, car safety is becoming a vital aspect for the stakeholders of the auto industry. Recently, several cars from homegrown auto majors like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra have received commendable 4-star or even 5-star safety ratings in the Global NCAP crash test.

Here, let us take a quick look at the top safest made-in-India cars.

Tata Nexon (5-star)

Tata Nexon became the first made-in-India 5-star rated car in Global NCAP’s crash test program back in 2018. Competing with rivals like Ford EcoSport, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Mahindra XUV300, the Nexon received a 5-star safety rating for adult occupant protection and a 3-star safety rating for child occupant protection. The compact SUV comes with safety features like driver and front passenger airbags, front seatbelt pre-tensioners, ABS, SBR, and ISOFIX anchorages, etc.

Tata Altroz (5-star)

Another car from Tata Motors’ stable to receive a 5-star Global NCAP rating was the Tata Altroz premium hatchback. Competing with rivals like Maruti Suzuki Baleno, Hyundai i20, Volkswagen Polo, Honda Jazz, and Toyota Glanza; the Altroz comes with safety features like driver and front passenger airbags, driver seatbelt pre-tensioners, ISOFIX anchorages, and ABS.

Mahindra XUV300 (5-star)

Mahindra XUV300 compact SUV was another made-in-India car that received Global NCAP’s first-ever Safer Choice award. It scored a 5-star safety rating for adult occupant protection and 4-star for child-occupant protection. The Mahindra compact SUV gets a host of safety features such as driver and front passenger airbags, front seat-belt pre-tensioners, SBR, ISOFIX anchorages, ABS, etc.

Mahindra Thar (4-star)

The new Mahindra Thar a made-in-India car with a 4-star safety rating from Global NCAP. The true blue off-roader gets a crash safety compliant body and chassis, roll-cage protection. It also gets a host of safety features such as ESP with anti-rollover protection, ABS with EBD and hydraulic brake assist, dual front airbags, panic braking signal, over-speed warning, reverse parking sensor, hill hold, and hill descent control, etc.

Tata Tiago/Tigor (4-star)

The Tata Tiago and Tata Tigor, a hatchback and compact sedan respectively, have received Global NCAP 4-star safety ratings in 2020. Both the hatchback and the compact sedans come with standard safety features like driver and passenger front airbags, ABS, driver seatbelt pre-tensioners, SBR, etc.

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza (4-star)

Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza compact SUV scored a 4-star safety rating in the Global NCAP crash test in 2018. It is equipped with driver and passenger front airbags, driver seatbelt pre-tensioners, SBR, ABS, and ISOFIX anchorages, etc.

Mahindra Marazzo (4-star)

Mahindra Marazzo MPV received a 4-star safety rating in 2018 by Global NCAP. The MPV that is claimed to have been inspired by a shark’s outline is equipped with safety features such as driver and passenger front airbags, driver seatbelt pre-tensioners, ABS, ISOFIX anchorages, SBR, etc.

(Videos: Global NCAP Youtube)