The safest cars to buy during the holidays

Today, it has become more important than ever in India to buy a car with good crash safety ratings to determine its crashworthiness

Buying new cars around festivals is a common phenomenon in India. The desire to own a new car is high during this time and car manufacturers launch attractive offers and discounts to drive sales and increase footfall in showrooms. At the same time, purchasing a safe vehicle has become crucial.

As time goes by, Indian car buyers are becoming more aware of vehicle safety. NCAP agencies such as Global NCAP and the newly formed Bharat NCAP are working in this regard. To further raise awareness, here’s a list of the most crash-safe cars you can buy during the holiday season.

The safest car to buy – GNCAP (New Code)

In this list, we have compiled 10 highly rated vehicles based on Global NCAP’s latest crash safety norms, along with all the vehicles that Bharat NCAP has tested so far. Not many vehicles have been tested by Global NCAP to comply with its latest crash safety specifications. Therefore, there are not many vehicles with good safety ratings.

However, before Global NCAP updated the crash test specifications, a considerable number of vehicles were tested, as can be seen in the table at the end of this article. Tata Motors adheres to the new norms of GNCAP and has become a leading car manufacturer focusing on vehicle safety. The company’s Safari, Harrier and Safari all received full-fat 5-star reviews.

Additionally, these are the only products to exceed the 30-point threshold in adult occupant safety ratings. Next up are Skoda and Volkswagen, whose product portfolios based on the MQB A0 IN platform include the Kushaq and Taigun SUVs as well as the Virtus and Slavia sedans. The vehicles also received a full-fat 5-star crash rating.

Hyundai Verna’s 5-star crash rating is quite surprising as the company is not known for good crash safety ratings. With the Verna, Hyundai broke the logjam and occupied a higher position in the standings. Another safety-related brand is the Mahindra Scorpio N, which showcases its 5-star rating for adult occupants and 3-star safety rating for children as per the updated crash safety standards of GNCAP.

It is worth noting that the Kia Carens received a perfect score of 5 stars for child occupant safety, but failed to receive more than 3 stars for adult occupant safety. Vehicles such as Tata Punch, Tata Altroz, Mahindra XUV300 (now XUV3XO), XUV700 etc. showed excellent 5-star crash rating under the old norms of GNCAP. Notably, the Mahindra Thar (3-door), Tata Tiago and Tigor, Renault Kiger, Triber and Nissan Magnite all received a respectable 4-star rating as per GNCAP’s old criteria.

Bharat NCAP

So far, the newly conceived Bharat NCAP has been able to analyze the crash performance of seven vehicles. These include Tata Motors’ Safari/Harrier, Punch EV, Nexon EV, Nexon ICE, Curvv EV and Curvv ICE, as well as the Citroen Basalt, which was recently crash-tested. Tata’s product was crash-tested as per Bharat NCAP norms and received a full-fat 5-star crash rating with distinction in terms of adult and child occupant safety. Nexon ICE, Curvv ICE and Curvv EV crash test results were announced yesterday.

The most surprising result comes from Citroen Basalt, which received a respectable 4 stars. The Basalt sits on the same CMP skateboard as other cost-effective C-Cubed vehicles, and is presumed to score very similarly to the 0-star rating Global NCAP awarded the eC3. The Basalt defied everyone’s expectations and received 4 stars for both adult and child occupant safety. The Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Nissan Magnite facelifts appear to have been crash tested by Bharat NCAP and the results will be out soon.