[volkman10]

Euro NCAP Secretary General, Michiel van Ratingen's view,

This is perhaps the strongest example of a manufacturer continuing to sell a product that is well past its best-before date, at the expense of the unsuspecting car buyer. We would urge consumers to check our website for the latest ratings and to choose cars with the most up-to-date five-star ratings, many examples of which we have seen in 2017

The fact that older cars cannot compete illustrates the pace at which the vehicle industry is innovating safety and the willingness and ability of competitive manufacturers to meet the highest standards. Those who do not keep their cars up to the latest standards get left behind, as these results clearly show

Source:Euro NCAP

[srishiva]

Punto did not score 5 stars in the past because of the thud of doors or thick body panels. Neither are other cars going to score 0 because they have lighter doors and panels.

To think a car would perform better in real world scenario with 0 stars compared to other higher rated cars is being too defensive and wrong (not withstanding some lucky scenarios). To still perpetuate such ideas on this forum is amusing.

[Intelsingh]

In India, I am of the opinion that the star rating of the car can just give us peace of mind. The trucks on the highway that we have, a solid build will help, even in the case of a roll over. Rest of the ideal scenarios, a rating can help us decide.

Then there is the case of people driving the way they do. I am sure many of us choose to discuss redlining our cars and upgrading performance, but how many actually consider upgrading the brakes and the suspension.

We are discussing government policies on cars in a place where the roads are dug up on people's whims and many manufacturers provide sub standard alloys.

Let's just take the ratings as information about the new norms in Europe, because we all love cars. While we can purchase cars that we like and hope for the best in the meantime trying to practice good driving - as much as the conditions let us.

[Doge]

Originally Posted by amit_mechengg

Dont want to spoil the party, but i have few surveyor friends who survey the accident cars day in and day out. I dont want to debate on how safe lighter balenos are, but the photographs and tragic deaths in these cars dont align with the ratings or discussions we are doing here.

Have also seen VW and Fiat cars in similar and more fiercer accidents in India. The occupants are still alive to tell the great stories - without whiplash

Did you ever notice that there are a lot more Baleno's, hence many more accidents to come across than Punto or Polo? Wouldn't the number of cars make a big difference on your judging method?
Still not saying I would trust a Suzuki. A 3 star rating at EU Ncap is pretty pathetic, most cars are now 5 stars anyway.
And for the people who think that the weight of a vehicle makes no difference in a crash, think again. The basic laws of physics will always be present which is why buses can plow through cars and nothing happens to the driver where as the car is beyond recognition. A 5 star hatch vs a 5 star big SUV, who do you think has the upper hand?

[blackwasp]

Not very surprised to see the results. I think the changes in the testing norms have been slowly getting more stringent as well. I'm also happy to see the amount of interest developed from such results. As a former car salesman, I did witness the change in customer demands - most people did ask about airbags and opted for that variant if it was available. This is the change we all have been asking for. Now that the consumers have started taking notice, the manufacturers are bound to introduce even more safety features.

The day is not far where manufacturers will specifically come out with adverts that mention the safety of their cars.

Here is a short video released by Euro NCAP for their 20th anniversary. It shows the difference of crashworthiness between a late nineties Rover 100 and the recent Honda Jazz. Notice that the Rover had airbags as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwGgRUkrnng

As far as the Indian scenario is concerned, most of the cars in the market today lack even the basic safety provisions let alone side airbags, autonomous braking, lane assist etc. Hence this is just like any other news. I hope a big hue and cry is raised over this to show the manufacturers that we want the safer cars as well.

Regarding the Indian Baleno, Swift etc, compared to their export spec cars, I can assure you that they are just similar looking. Underneath them are a lot of changes. I have seen the export spec Baleno many times and had the chance to interact with a driver of the export spec Baleno once. He did highlight a couple of changes over the Indian spec one. Do these changes particularly affect the safety of the car? I'm not sure, but then if it didn't, MSIL would have definitely sold the same cars here as well.

The Punto is now an old car and filled with outdated tech. Fiat needs to pull up its socks if they want to stay relevant.

However, would this video have influenced me to not buy the Abarth had it come out in 2016? I don't think so... after all, as said earlier, kinda irrelevant considering the Indian market.

[chiranjitp]

I have always thought that the Punto was one of the safest cars to be sold here (in the sub 15 lakh segment). But it seems now that is not the case, when we bought our Punto in 2012, strong build quality & 5 star Euro NCAP rating were one of the deciding factors. Having said that it seems that the passenger compartment was found to be intact & with addition of more safety equipment, seat belt reminder, better designed seats (to protect whiplash) etc it should do better than a zero star.

Comparing this score with that of the ones received by the likes of Kwid, Alto, Swift, i10, Scorpio in Global NCAP is also not fair, here at least the passenger compartment seems to be intact. But then the Punto sold here might have undergone some changes to its structure (supposedly) like the Swift, i10 etc specifically for the Indian market, though highly unlikely considering the sales numbers & the subsequent cost required to re-engineer the structure.

[TheHkrish]

I am quite shocked to see this with the beloved Punto !!!, but Boy oh Boy are we surprised.

I had owned one and almost had a very Nasty crash in a 2013 Model Punto ( Link to the thread) We came unscathed. The impact was bang on the logo though. The car was traveling at ~55KMPH ( from my Garmin). Confusing fact is Punto did have a very buzzy Seat belt reminder alarm. I had sold the car after using it for a further 3 years.

[pinin]

Shocking to say the least.

A 2010 Punto 90HP is my daily ride - which till now felt perfectly safe to me. Should one upgrade to a next gen car? What about all the benefits of long term ownership?

Any thoughts Gurus?

Regards,
Pinin

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by pinin

Shocking to say the least.

A 2010 Punto 90HP is my daily ride - which till now felt perfectly safe to me. Should one upgrade to a next gen car? What about all the benefits of long term ownership?

Any thoughts Gurus?

Regards,
Pinin

Other than VW's Polo, I don't think any car from our country in that segment will perform better. Don't let such things bother your ownership experience, use it till it serves you well, and upgrade to something from few segments above with all safety features.

Car received poor ratings thanks to lack of equipment like side airbags and other list of requirements.

If this is bothering you, then it's time for a new ride!