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-   -   Which are India's safest cars? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/7206-indias-safest-cars-3.html)

Wow talk about a thread revival lol. I mean a 5 year old thread, my my.

Anyway, it should be interesting to review the current scenario in India, as compared to that 5 years ago when the thread was started.

Today India has matured as a car market, with many international players fighting for a piece of the pie and having invested heavily in the country, both in terms of infrastructure (Sales/service) as well as production.

Companies such as BMW, Hyundai, Mahindra, Tata etc are all manufacturing cars in India and then exporting them. It is no surprise that the kit offered on the export variants is higher than that offered on those on sale in India.

It is refreshing to see Hyundai sell their export variant of the i20 in India, what with their 6 airbags and all.

Whilst Indian cars are becoming safer, we're still a long way away from the international variants. Simple features like ABS and airbags should become standard throughout the range.

Sadly we are still in a country where passenger side OVRMs are an option on some of the smaller cars, most buyers lust after beige interiors instead of safety features, and people still break the laws (Even simple ones like don't keep your kid on your lap etc, and yes 10 people in an alto is against the law!)

Cars will be a lot safer when these things stop.

Bang on DOCC. Its the people who make driving dangerous. And its also the people who let the manufacturer dole out inferior products at higher prices.

I still have to tell my old folks a couple of times before they fasten the seat belt.

The other day I did see a old premier padmini crash into a Bolero. I was suprised that the MM540 was quite badly damaged and the padmini looked untouched.

Some of the old building quality is to die for!

Well this thread hasn't seen some activity for a while but I totally agree with DocG on the Hyundai i20. Six airbags in a sub ten lakh car is brilliant stuff. While most manufacturers stop at two, the fact that Hyundai gives you the extra option is something I really like about them.

Read a news recently in Malayalam Newspaper about a Kerala MLA who escaped unhurt after his Scorpio somersaulted thrice. He was driving by himself and was wearing the seatbelt. It seems he had to take evasive action after a bus he was overtaking swerved to the right.

So it comes out that even though Scorpio (criticized earlier in this read) being a SUV can topple easily, becomes relatively safer if you wear seat belt

Dear Volvo S80 and XC90 is there in the Indian market for quite sometime and yes true Volvo makes one of the safest cars. Both the car comes with EuroNCAP rating *****.

That post was in 2005. I think Volvos weren't on sale yet then.

AFAIK The Hyundai i20 is no longer available with 6 Airbags :Frustrati.

i20 Option pack (with side and curtain airbags) is still available on the 1.2 petrol.

I'm glad to hear that but does that mean you can't get a diesel i20 with side airbags? Come on Hyundai, do the right thing here.

May be this is just to flaunt the 5 star NCAP rating. The variants with more expensive engines CRDi and 1.4 AT do not have side airbags anymore. Not even as an option.

Good that a 5 yr Old thread suddenly wake up. We have a huge gap in this 5 yr/ We have lots of new model to compare.
I believe this NCAP/Diff start rating apply to only high end variant of the car. Ex: i20 is XYZ rating, but only the high end not the base version...
If you see in FIGO only the Titanium has AIR BAG and ABS. If they want they could have provide this is a optional for all the variant. And again as a Indian Customer we are more concern on mileage/resell value after 5 yrs not the Safety.

IMO, i20 is one the safest cars on Indian roads as of now. Of course I am talking about a car an average Indian can own.

How about a Fiat Grande Punto??

Any car with a cool headed and stable driver who abides by drive discipline is safe. Because at the end, no matter what technologies the car may have, but if there is a maniac behind the wheels, even a army tank may become a death trap.

As far as pure car sturdiness is concerned, my vote will undoubtedly go to a merc. Among the Indian breed of cars to Safari.

I had the opportunity to see the official video a real safari being crash tested at a Tata facility. It did gave me goosebumps to see the frontal and side crash, which occured at around 120kmph each and the driver (dummy) receiving only minor injuries (they determined this by the amount of G-forces acting on vulnerable points on the dummy)

What about Safer car in hands of a Safe driver? Do you mean to say if someone drives safely he does not a safer car?


Please share the video with us. AFAIK no manufacturer does crash testing at 120kph, at such speeds the most likely cause of death would be sudden deceleration causing the organs to get damaged even if the there is not intrusion in the cabin.


European versions of Fiat Punto, VW Polo and Hyundai i20 have been rated 5stars in the Euro NCAP Assessment programme. Please also not the European versions of these cars have more safety equipment like more Airbags and ESP.

Structurally the Punto scores over i20 but loses out on pedestrian protection.