I am surprised at Honda. They seem to have changed for the worse in the early 2010s and while they're bouncing back now their management is so slow that it's impossible to recognise where they're improving; it's really hard to watch. Now, leaving the long-pending midsize SUV launch aside, there's one thing that needs to be talked about, and something I think Honda should capitalise on: safety (I'll talk about it since it is my area of interest)
Honda made front airbags and ABS standard across their entire fleet in the late 2000s, a move that came way before there was any chance of an NCAP being set up in India. They clearly advertised that their Indian products were tested to G-CON standards (which are clearly very high). Then, I don't know how or why, but the bean-counting started. Honda seemed to be aiming squarely at a slice of Maruti or Hyundai's slice of pie, and it's something that didn't suit Honda's image at all. Honda, before that, had the very respectable image of a manufacturer selling world-class cars in mass-market segments, albeit at higher prices than competition. But some people were okay with that. Those who knew what they were paying for would appreciate it. (I was very young at the time but I can distinctly remember relatives talking about Honda selling cars built to global standards. Direct and extended family was full of Hondas at the time.)
When the Brio came, airbags and anti-lock brakes were knocked off the standard equipment list. The first-generation Amaze was worse (if I remember reading it right) with airbags being limited to very few variants. Then came a slew of cars on that platform, all of which flopped one after the other and probably led Honda to stop investing in India like they did in the past. People just didn't want these watered-down Hondas with, forgive me for this, nasty-looking interiors and sparse safety equipment. The typical Honda buyer didn't mind paying a premium to have a product built to the usual high Honda standards.
Within five years, Honda went from being at the top of the safety game to being a laggard, nearly at the bottom of the segments it sold cars in. In 2016, Global NCAP tested the Honda Mobilio. Not surprisingly, it scored zero stars. Basic variants were not fitted with airbags. Honda sponsored a test on a variant equipped with airbags and despite good structural integrity, it put up a mixed performance showing high rearward pedal displacement and ruining any potential Honda had left at the time for advertising its past lead on safety. This was also shocking because cars built on the same architecture tested by ASEAN NCAP actually showed very well-controlled pedal displacement. The reason for this remains unsolved even today. This made one wonder whether Honda was actually testing its Indian products to G-CON standards.
It took Honda till 2017 to re-fit its model range with standard double airbags and ABS, something they had been the first to do nine years before. The basic 2014 City had only one standard airbag, the Jazz had none. Both clearly a step down over their predecessors.
Then, Honda discontinued the entire line of products based on the architecture that had brought it failure one after the other (except the first-gen Amaze, maybe). In 2018 came the new Amaze. Fitted with pretty basic safety equipment. Two airbags, ABS and ISOFIX with top tether. Enough for a good Global NCAP rating, but not segment-leading in any way. There was no real deal breaker and it still sells quite well.
In 2019, Global NCAP tested a made-in-India Amaze exported to South Africa, with two airbags, ABS, ISOFIX, but only driver-side seatbelt reminder unlike the Indian version which gets a dual seatbelt reminder (which is a requirement for the 5th Global NCAP star for adult occupant protection). Now, since the Amaze was intended to be sold only in developing markets, personally, I highly doubt that they bothered to develop a separate version for South Africa, but, there is absolutely no way I can confirm this unless Global NCAP tests a sold-in-India car so don't take my word for it. My hypothesis is based on South Africa having far worse safety regulation than India and the Amaze being a developing market-only model.
The South African Amaze scored 4 stars for adult occupant protection but 1 star for child occupant protection. The child occupant protection took a big hit in the dynamic test because the rear armrest unlatched during the test and the Q1.5 dummy consequently showed poor protection. Also, surprisingly, Honda South Africa chose to recommend a forward-facing restraint for the Q3 dummy, something global manufacturers typically avoid. In a way, I'm thankful the South African variant was tested because the basic Indian variant (E) does not get a rear armrest which could have positively influenced the child occupant protection rating and the invalidity of the rating for higher variants could have gone unnoticed by Honda, Global NCAP as well as consumers.
But, let's come to the adult occupant protection rating. The Amaze scored 4 stars, i.e., 14.08 points with driver SBR (which means that if the passenger SBR meets requirements and
if the Indian car is otherwise identical it could score 14.58) That's in 5 star territory. Arguably not too comfortably in 5-star territory (unlike the 16.00+ point ratings Tata is achieving) but I assume that Honda India could have the variable contact+concentrated loading modifiers removed by sponsoring a sled test during the one-to-one meeting if the need arises (that is, if it doesn't cross 14.00 points due to minor differences in test performance like the Indian vs African Toyota Liva showed).
Now, I've been really curious about the applicability of the Amaze's rating for the Indian market, so I contacted Mr Alejandro Furas of Global NCAP and he said:
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They should be similar, test procedure, scoring and else is the same, so you can “export” Africa results to India. We have yet no evidence that Indian OEMs are exporting cars with structural differences to Africa.
When a result is not valid to be “exported” from Africa to India we do indicate so to the media in the case that we are approached.
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Somehow, I'm still not convinced. I'd like Global NCAP to test a modern Indian Honda but they're short on funds and they won't test a car whose (good) performance are quite sure of. But as consumers, we're not sure. My question to Honda is, if they're really selling the same car in India and Africa, why aren't they sponsoring a test on it? Sponsor a test on it. Get those 5 stars (again, I'm not so sure they can, but I hope they do). Advertise it aggressively; it'll be the first in the segment. And watch the cash flow in. I don't know if Honda India's management is still stuck in the age-old belief that safety doesn't sell in India. I know the passivity of Honda's management but I'm not asking Honda to launch a new product or something. All I ask of them is that they sponsor a test to objectively inform consumers about the safety of their product. They can brag about ACE and G-CON all they want, but without a standardised test they can't expect us to assume G-CON is better than a proper NCAP rating, especially when all said and done, no Indian Honda has performed particularly well in NCAP tests (unlike elsewhere, even other developing markets where they ace (pun not intended) every NCAP test comfortably and even go so far as to say that NCAP testing is not enough).
If Global NCAP tests the Amaze next year and its score is capped at 2 stars for not having ESC, I will have no sympathy towards Honda if people compare the rating to, say, the Tata Punch tested this year which scored 5 stars under current protocol even if the Amaze has similar levels of occupant protection. If Honda wants consumers to stop drawing conclusions they should sponsor a test or deal with the consequences of not doing so.
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Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain The GNCAP certificate mentions the car’s weight to be 1173kg. The India spec Amaze weighs 905-934kg as per the brochure. |
You may be right in not directly using the Amaze's result for South Africa, but a reminder that the test mass specified by Global NCAP includes the mass of two Hybrid III 50th percentile dummies (77.7kg each), a Q3 dummy (14.6kg) and Q1.5 dummy (11.1kg), child restraints (mass of these varies significantly depending on manufacturer recommendations), on-board high-speed recording equipment, and the summation of other very insignificant masses like shoulder-belt loadcells etc (for example these are <100g each hence negligible). Nevertheless, manufacturers can sell cars with the same kerb mass but different structural performance by simply avoiding hot-stamping of some members or reducing the density of spot welds to save production costs. This is a common occurrence in modern lightweight modular platforms that are originally designed to use extensive high-strength steel parts to improve fuel economy while providing good crashworthiness, but since these are expensive, manufacturers sometimes simply skip hot-stamping these members for developing markets. This results in no change in mass, which is why using kerb masses for crash performance may be a dangerous practice today.