Maruti Suzuki S-Presso safer in this country than India-spec model: Report

Maruti Suzuki S-Presso has drawn flak in recent times for flunking the Global NCAP crash test with zero-start rating. The report has triggered debate how safe are some of the Indian cars available currently in the market.

Maruti S-Presso’s dismal show at the Global NCAP crash test also triggered a Twitter banter between the carmaker and Tata Motors, who boast of at least five cars in the list of top 10 safest cars in India.

However, Suzuki Auto South Africa allayed any safety concerns in the S-Presso cars available in the African nation. It cited a recent report by a publication where Suzuki Auto South Africa’s national brand manager Brendon Carpenter claimed the Suzuki S-Presso available there is safer than the Indian spec model which was tested by the Global NCAP.

He was quoted saying, "The model that was used in the crash test is an Indian-specced model that is built exclusively for the Indian market. That particular model only features an airbag on the driver’s side and it also doesn’t have front seatbelts that feature pre-tensioners with load limiters."

Carpenter also said, "In South Africa, a driver and passenger airbag are standard across the S-Presso range, along with front seatbelts that include pre-tensioners with load limiters. The additional airbag and seatbelt enhancements make the local model a much safer vehicle. The S-Presso offers good value, but not at the expense of safety."

Maruti Suzuki S-Presso had failed to earn any stars in the latest round of safety ratings' test conducted by Global NCAP. S-Presso failed to impress when tested for adult occupant protection, primarily because it only gets a driver-side airbag as standard. Airbags and the protection they offer are an important part of how a car performs in the tests conducted by Global NCAP. As such, the dummies placed inside the S-Presso were found with significant impact to the neck and chest areas.

"Driver’s chest showed poor protection and passenger’s chest showed weak protection. Driver’s knees showed marginal protection as they could impact with dangerous structures behind the dashboard supported by the Tranfascia tube while passenger’s knees showed good protection," the test report read.

The test results further noted that front seatbelts do not have pretensioners and the rear middle occupant does not get a three-point seatbelt. There is also no ISOFIX anchorages for the Child Restraint Systems (CRS).

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