Watch: Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS gets 2 stars, Kia Seltos manages 3 in crash tests

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS secured a rather moderate two-star safety rating while Kia Seltos managed to earn three stars in the latest round of crash tests conducted by Global NCAP at its lab in Europe. Three 'Made-in-India' cars were put to the test to judge their safety standard with Maruti Suzuki S-Presso failing to earn any stars at all.

Grand i10 NIOS fared better than the S-Presso and earned two stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. That the car offers double frontal airbags and pretensioners for both front passengers as standard worked in its favour even if its structure and footwell area were rated unstable and chest protection for driver was found weak and only adequate for the passenger. "Driver and passenger’s knees showed marginal protection as they could impact with dangerous structures behind the dashboard supported by the Tranfascia tube," the test report read.

The report further underlined that Hyundai refused to recommend Child Restraint Systems (CRS) for the test which hampered Grand i10 NIOS from earning more stars. "The vehicle does not offer 3 point belts in all seating positions and it does not offer ISOFIX anchorages," the test noted.

Seltos from Kia, which belongs to the umbrella Hyundai Motor Group, fared slightly better in the same tests and managed to secure three stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection.

Seltos offers double frontal airbag and pretensioners as standard but its structure was rated as a borderline case unstable while its footwell area was rated as unstable. "Head protection was adequate for both front passengers as both airbags bottomed out during the crash test. Neck protection for adult occupants was good. Chest protection was good for passenger and marginal for driver," the test report noted while also bringing out the shortcomings for child occupants. "The dynamic performance was poor as the head of the 3 year old showed contact during the rebound face after the impact. The car showed limited protection for the 3 year old head and neck while the 18 month old received acceptable protection."

That the manufacturer for the SUV also refused to recommend CRS for the test hampered Seltos' performance.