Re: Maruti Alto K10: ZERO Star Safety Rating in the Latin NCAP Quote:
Originally Posted by hothatchaway Instead of running this model to the ground, we need to understand the issue in context and to that effect I would like to propose the following questions which are worth reflecting on (especially K10 owners)
• Is this test in Latin America sufficient for us to conclude that K10 is the most ‘unsafe’ car in India?
• Is this applicable only for K10 or also to the regular Alto and if yes, we are potentially talking about a fifth of all passenger vehicles on our roads being patently unsafe?
• How safe are the other cars from the Maruti stable? Since Alto/K10 is almost a category by itself, how much ‘safer’ (if at all) is a Wagon R, A*, Swift et al? If the answer is in degrees then its acceptable owing to the higher price they command, if the answer is Alto/K10 is unsafe period and the other checks the ‘basic’ boxes, then we have a problem
• This leads me to ponder on the fundamental question, what is an ‘acceptable’ degree of safety/crash worthiness for cars in India; how do we define that in the absence of NCAP like certifications available elsewhere? While its intuitive and inevitable, is it fair to consider random test samples done elsewhere for a select number of Indian models when we are assuming that some ‘made to export’ models use better material for stocks meant for export. How do we know for e.g. that model x in India, which is both exported and available in India, has not achieved a better rating on its ‘export’ quality stocks while peddling stocks sporting an inferior quality of sheet metal in India
• Finally the damning question, if a Nano, which in terms of price point seems to be a gazillion segments below even the Alto, sports a far superior safety rating, then this is a scam of epic proportions. The K10, fun to drive while it is, is no V8 and the pricing difference cannot be explained in performance alone. Considering both the Nano and the Alto are Spartan in every respect, what explanation does MSIL have for peddling something so shoddy? This mind you, is assuming that the ratings which we are talking about, represents a 2x/3x qualititative difference in safety for Nano and Alto models available in India
Am not out of questions but have run out of words to express them. I do not plan to take this lying down if this is true, but would like to be absolutely sure that the first two questions are true before I damn my precious possession which so far has been the highlight of my acquisitions. I can live with the fact that m K10 may not have the structural rigidity of a model which commands a much higher price point as that is the truth of basic economics. I will leave people to draw the conclusion whether that makes me a ‘cheapo’ as this is a democracy and we have a right to our opinions. But lets ask some of these probing questions and determine if this a feature of most cars in the Indian passenger car industry and the difference is in degrees and K10 owners need not feel like pushing their cars off the nearest cliff. |
Hi
first of all you need to cool down mate. now coming down to your questions:
1. no it's not the most 'unsafe' car. you can go through harishnayak's LTO of his alto lx : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...very-page.html
2. yes this should apply to the regular alto also
3. this still needs to be seen as they are yet to be crash tested
4. again no valid proof, but in all probabilities, it's true
5. the nano tested in europe had airbags and were reportedly structurally modified
so the thing is, people are bashing the k10 because we have a video of its crash test where it failed miserably. but IMHO if all the non airbag versions of A and B segment cars sold in India are crash tested in their true production form, they would have more or less the same fate. before anyone points out about Euro NCAP ratings, read carefully the text in bold.
there's no getting away however that the k10 is structurally very weak, and
now that we know it, we must act to make it our advantage. one who knows his limitations is always safe Quote:
Originally Posted by Maky Oooooh yes...
Thanks for sharing this.
I shall show this to my parents right away. They were annoyed I chose the expensive Swift instead of Marutis entry level car for the family which " Also gets us from A to B " ; ). Wouldn't it be grand if some major newspaper printed this. | Quote:
Originally Posted by silverado This is why team bhp is so special, things which are very much unknown to even a normal auto buff are shared here.
I am very happy to read this, i was made to look like a fool when i bought Nano over Alto.
What i am surprised , is why doesn't TATA Motors advertise this particular aspect of its vehicles ( that it has in house crash testing facility ).
TATA group has always been honest to our country and this is one more beautiful example. ( I am not related to TATA group in any way, except for being a very happy nano owner ) |
i wonder what makes you guys happy. come on man grow up, this isn't a micromax vs samsung thing. this is about road safety, and a matter of life and death.
LIVE TO DRIVE (safe)!!! (even if you use an army tank for commuting)
Last edited by shreyan_k10 : 13th August 2013 at 23:14.
|