Nexon to XUV700: Top 5 Indian cars that got shot in the arm with GNCAP rating
- Safety ratings have been playing a crucial role for cars in India to convince buyers in favour or against those models.
India is among the top countries that register an alarming number of road accidents every year. The country's abysmal road accident numbers and related deaths and critical injuries have been propelling growing safety concerns among car buyers. Gone are the days when car buyers used to consider the mileage or affordability factors while buying new passenger vehicles. One of the key factors that influence the buying decision of modern car buyers in India is the safety of the vehicle.
India has been witnessing a staggering approximately 400,000 road accidents annually across the country, which result in around 1.50 lakh deaths every year. This translates to a daily toll of about 400 lives. According to the data released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the number of road accidents in 2022 across India has witnessed an alarming 11.9 per cent rise compared to the previous year, while the related fatalities increased by 9.4 per cent last year compared to 2021. Besides that, there was a 15.3 per cent surge in the number of people getting injured in 2022 against the previous year, revealed government data. It further revealed that in 2022, a total of 461,312 road accidents were recorded in the country, of which, 151,997 took place on the national highways including expressways, 106,682 on state highways and the remaining 202,633 on other roads.
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With such an alarming rate of rise in the number of road accidents as well as related fatalities and injuries, car buyers are increasingly focusing on the safety aspects of vehicles while buying one. Influenced by this trend, car manufacturers are bringing in more safety features in their cars, ensuring a robust build quality of their vehicles in an attempt to raise the safety quotient. This shift of focus is not only seen in the foreign automakers present in India but among the Indian OEMs as well. In fact, Tata Motors and Mahindra have been leading the trend of making the safest cars in India in the mass market segment.
What's more interesting is that in return, sales of the five-star rated cars have witnessed a rapid surge right after those cars' Global NCAP crash test ratings were published. In fact, after achieving a five-star safety rating in GNCAP crash tests, some Indian cars witnessed 30-40 per cent growth in year-on-year sales.
Here are the top five safest cars in India manufactured by Indian OEMs that scored five-star safety ratings in Global NCAP crash tests and how their sales shot up immediately after the test results were out.
Tata Altroz
Tata Motors premium hatchback Altroz received a five-star safety rating in the Global NCAP crash test in January 2020. Since then its sales across India ramped up significantly. It registered 8,458 units in FY2020, while the car recorded 60,379 units and 62,247 units in FY2021 and FY2022, respectively. In the last fiscal year, the premium hatchback sold 57,819 units.
Mahindra XUV300
Mahindra XUV300 is the homegrown car manufacturer's answer in the highly in-demand compact SUV segment of the Indian market. After getting a five-star rating in the Global NCAP crash test in January 2020, the XUV300's sales shot up. The SUV registered 37,576 units in FY2020, while in the succeeding financial years, it recorded 35,965 units, 50,260 units and 60,968 units till the last fiscal.
Tata Punch
The five-star safety rating by Global NCAP helped Tata Motors' micro SUV Punch to post a sales improvement. It sold 52,698 units in FY2021, while after receiving the five-star rating in October 2021, its sales shot up to 52,716 units in FY2022 and 99,750 units in FY2023.
Tata Nexon
Tata Motors is certainly leading the pack of safest cars in India and Nexon has been spearheading the flock. The compact SUV received a five-star safety rating by Global NCAP in November 2021 and immediately after that, its sales performance shot up. Post inception in the Indian market, the SUV sold 27,547 units in FY2018, while it retailed 55,008 units and 43,208 units in the two succeeding financial years. Post achieving the five-star GNCAP rating, the SUV recorded 63,756 units in FY2021. It registered 124,130 units and 172,138 units in FY2022 and FY2023, respectively.
Mahindra XUV700
Mahindra's flagship SUV XUV700 is also another car with a five-star Global NCAP safety rating. It received a five-star rating from GNCAP in November 2022, propelling its sales numbers to 66,473 units in FY2022 from 25,261 units registered in the previous fiscal. In FY2023, the SUV recorded 63,123 units.
