Top 10 safest cars in India: Tata Harrier, Safari shake up the list

The list of safest cars in India just got rejigged after two latest models from Tata Motors returned with high safety rankings at Global NCAP crash tests. Both Harrier and Safari SUVs, which launched yesterday (October 17), earned five-star rating at the crash tests held recently. The two SUVs secured highest ranking among all Indian cars in both adult and child occupant safety tests, making them the safest two cars in India to drive. Here is a quick look at the top 10 safest cars in India according to Global NCAP ranking.

Tata Harrier

The new Harrier SUV has been launched with enhanced safety features. It offers six airbags as standard which can go up to seven airbags for top-end variants. It also offers ADAS technology to assist drivers besides other safety features. The Global NCAP rated Harrier's bodyshell integrity as stable. The SUV also met the requirements of UN127 and GTR9 for pedestrian protection as standard. In adult occupant protection, the SUV scored 33.05 out of 34 points and in child occupant protection, it scored 45 out of 49. The overall safety score of the SUV is 78.05 points. (Read full report)

Tata Safari

The new Safari, equipped with similar safety features, expectedly returned with similar points and safety ranking as Harrier. The three-row SUV, launched at ₹16.19 lakh (ex-showroom), offers other safety features such as ABS with EBD, ESP, tyre pressure monitoring system, cruise control, driver attention alert, hill descent control, emergency call and breakdown alert among others.

Also watch: Tata Harrier or Safari? Which SUV should be your pick and why

Volkswagen Virtus

The compact sedan from the German auto giant was the highest ranking safest cars from India until Harrier and Safari improved the record. Along with its technical cousin Skoda Slavia, Virtus became India's first sedan to sail through the Global NCAP crash tests with the highest possible five-star rating in both adult and child occupant protection tests. Virtus scored 29.71 out of 34 points in Adult occupant protection test and 42 out of 49 points in Child occupant protection test. The overall safety score of Virtus is 71.71 points.

Skoda Slavia

Underpinned by the same platform used for Virtus, Slavia is Skoda's flagship model which replaced the older Rapid sedan last year. The new platform along with enhanced safety measures, helped the sedan to notch up highest safety rating at the Global NCAP. Slavia scored similar points as the Virtus. Both sedans were also tested for pedestrian safety measures too.

Volkswagen Taigun

The Taigun compact SUV from the German auto giant was so far India's safest SUV until Harrier and Safari eclipsed its performance at the Global NCAP crash tests. The SUV had scored the perfect 5 at the Global NCAP crash test last year in both adult and child occupant protection measures, a first for any cars from India. With an overall safety score of 71.64 points, the Taigun is now the third safest SUV in India.

Skoda Kushaq

Kushaq compact SUV from Skoda, which is the technical cousin of the Volkswagen Taigun, returned with the similar safety rating at the Global NCAP crash tests. Built on a shared platform and offered with similar safety features, the Kushaq also scored five-star safety rating in both adult and child occupant protection programme.

Mahindra Scorpio-N

The Scorpio-N SUV, which is the new generation version of the flagship Scorpio SUV from Mahindra and Mahindra, is among the safest SUVs India currently has. It had scored 58.18 points at the Global NCAP crash tests in which the SUV secured five-star rating in adult occupant protection, but scored only three-star in child occupant protection. It is now officially the safest SUV from the Indian carmaker.

Mahindra XUV700

Mahindra's flagship XUV700 SUV was earlier its safest car on offer. The XUV700 had also secured five-star rating with top honours in the adult occupant protection programme and four-star rating child occupant protection. However, with an overall safety score of 57.69 points, it now sits slightly lower than the Scorpio-N.

Tata Punch

The safest car from another Indian carmaker Tata Motors is the smallest SUV that any company offers in the country. The Punch surprised a few by securing overall five-star rating at the Global NCAP. The safety ratings were similar to the XUV700 when it came to adult or child occupant protection programme. However, the overall safety score of Punch is 57.34 points.

Mahindra XUV300

The third Mahindra SUV to score overall five-star safety rating at Global NCAP is the sub-compact XUV300. It was among the first models from the carmaker to have secured highest safety rating at the crash tests. It scored five stars in adult occupant protection while child occupant protection rating was at four stars. The overall safety score of the XUV300 was 53.86 points.