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New Swift ADAS variant gets 1-star safety rating

New Swift Australian NCAP RatingsNew Swift Australian NCAP Ratings
New Swift Australian NCAP Ratings

Fourth-generation Swift has different crash ratings for European and Australian markets due to its safety specs

Suzuki is one of the leading brands of hatchbacks and economy cars. The Swift, which has recently been updated to its fourth-generation model, has been well received in India and many markets around the world. While the India-spec fourth-generation Swift is yet to be crash-tested, Euro NCAP has awarded the European-spec version of the hatchback a 3-star rating.

Now, recent crash tests by Australia’s NCAP (Australia and New Zealand Crash Testing Agency) have crash-tested the ADAS-equipped fourth-generation Swift and awarded it only a 1-star rating. This is because safety specifications in Australia and New Zealand differ from those sold in Europe. Let’s take a closer look.

New Swift Australian NCAP RatingsNew Swift Australian NCAP RatingsNew Swift Australian NCAP Ratings
New Swift Australian NCAP Ratings

New Suzuki Swift Australian NCAP

Interestingly, Australian NCAP has released the crash safety results of the new Swift. One would expect the Australian model to behave very similarly to the European model. However, Suzuki says the European Swift and Australian Swift have different safety specifications.

ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg said ANCAP was aware of the physical differences between the Australian-spec Swift and the European-spec Swift. The Australian-spec Swift will therefore need to undergo a series of additional crash tests. He noted that there were some concerns about the results.

ANCAP safety & crash testing a Suzuki Swift

The fourth-generation Swift in Australia and New Zealand received only 1 star in ANCAP crash testing and failed to score at least 50 per cent in all tests, where it should have received 2 stars. The adult occupant protection test was 47%, scoring 18.88/40 points; the child occupant protection test was 59%, scoring 29.24/49 points.

The vulnerable road user protection test score was 76% (48.40/63 points), and the safety assistance test score was 54% (9.78/18 points). In comparison, the European-spec fourth-generation Swift showed better crash performance, with adult occupant protection of 67%, child occupant protection of 65%, vulnerable road user protection of 76% and safety assist of 62%.

New Swift Australian NCAP RatingsNew Swift Australian NCAP RatingsNew Swift Australian NCAP Ratings
New Swift Australian NCAP Ratings

ANCAP CEO expresses concern

Generally speaking, cars scheduled for sale in Australia do not need to undergo separate crash testing based on Euro NCAP ratings if the safety specifications are the same. ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg expressed concern that ordinary buyers would not realize that cars have different safety certifications, even though they look identical to European-spec models and have the same name.

In India, however, the story becomes even more interesting. This is because the Dzire, the sedan version of the fourth-generation Swift, has just received a 5-star crash rating from Global NCAP. The general consensus may be inclined to believe that the fourth-gen Swift (India-spec) may get similar crash ratings as the Dzire. All these questions will be answered when the India-spec Swift goes for crash testing.

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