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-   -   Celerio: Maruti going cheap on Safety? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/147972-celerio-maruti-going-cheap-safety.html)

Mod Note: Team-BHP's Celerio Review has been uploaded at this link. Please continue the discussion on the review thread.

@ Moderators: Please move the thread if its not supposed to be here.

While comparing Celerio with A star, I came across following. I would like to get opinios by other T-BHPians.
1. EBD & BA is missing on top end model also.
2. Seat belt pretensioners are missing

Personally speaking, I would prefer above two over steering mounted controls and electrical ORVMs.

Its my strict opinion that following equipment must be minimum standard on all indian cars:
1. Dual airbags
2. ABS+EBD+BA
3. Rear wash and wipe with defogger
4. Height adjustable head restraints
5. Seatbelt pretensioners
6. Collapsible steering
7. Both side ORVMs

Being in auto industry and knowing the cost pressures, following can be optional extras:
1. Steering mounted controls
2. ICE
3. Remote lock
4. Height adjustable driver seat
5. ORVM mounted turn indicators
6. Electrically adjustable ORVMs
7. Vanity mirror
8. Fabric/ Art leather inserts
9. Height/ Reach adjustable steering
10. Spoilers/ Mouldings

Buddy, this is not only the case with Celerio but with almost every car in the similar range. Most of the effort is put to show case the beauty and aesthetic appeal of the car and safety features take a back seat.

I would still love to have Remote locks and day / night mirrors as essential and important features in the cars. While the remote lock ensures safety of the car from thefts on the other hand day / night mirrors add to the ease and comfort of driving during night.

Again it is individual choice, more and more people still go for company fitted accessories and when it comes to safety they think it is not required as they don't drive much and some think they drive with due caution and are careful. Little do they realise that most accidents happen even when you are driving in a correct way and the other party is on the wrong side.

We still need to come out of the "chalta hai" attitude.

Totally agree with you. Safety is a must in all cars. Our highways are now far improved and the average speeds have increased considerably but our road sense doesn't seem to have proportionally got better. The problem with Maruti small cars is that,the body intigrity is not there. Airbags may deploy but it may not save lives. Will be interesting now that the government is insisting on crash testing.

No car manufacturer can sell a car without airbags and basic safety features in Europe., as per the EU standards. The Govt of India should also make it mandatory, otherwise even the so-called safety conscious companies of Europe will continue to sell their 10 L price band car, without these safety features. A classic example is the VW Vento, which has ABS and airbags only in their highline variant. The average Indian consumer is also to share the blame, they would like to have alloy wheels and fog lamps, rather than airbags.

I think we expect too much from Govt of India, now they should make safety features mandatory for us. We have a choice of buying a top of the line car which comes equipped with all safety related gadgets and features. How many people buy them. The market research done by the car companies must have shown that consumer preference towards safety related features in India has still not reached the optimum level.

Very true and this is the root cause of the problem, everything comes for a price and an average consumer still does not want to pay for his/her own safety.

I totally agree with mints21, we cannot expect the Government of India to make new laws,regulations etc as it is a long process and the idea has to be signed off by various people and most of them also sport the "CHALTA HAI" attitude.
What we can do(are doing) is spread awareness about the importance safety features.
Is it just me or in the persuit of good FE figuures the manifacturers provide very thin and inadequate tyres,for eg the OEM tires on the WagonR,Celerio,alto800,i10,grand i10 etx

Hello Team BHPians
Just wanted to add my bit of knowledge here.
While a lot of people use cars daily for their errands etc, there is a whole lot of people out there who buy a car and then uses other forms of transport.
So it is mostly a once in a while that it is used, example to go to a wedding or shopping mall. And in such a short distance, inside a city what will happen? A lot can really, but then that's the logic.
Also with bang for the buck mentality safety features does not really cut ice.
Its like 1st guy "" I got alloy wheels, wide tires, mood lighting, Music player with big screen..what do you have???""
2nd guy""Well I got Seat belt pretensioners, ABS, EBD, dual air bags""
1st guy""Ha you put your money into stuff that will never be used...You dont have confidence in your driving....wimp""
As you see it really does not get you the bragging rights which an automobile is the epitome of in general populace, which is unlike Team BHPians I am sure.
So in my opinion that's why all what has been said in this thread holds absolutely true and manufacturers know this. Hence rear view mirror with integrated LED indicators will surely be more attractive and sell more than Air bags installed on drivers and passenger side.
Cheers

Life here has less value than DRL and chrome handles etc. Nothing much can be done, we can keep arguing and have such threads with endless discussions but the change must appear from the customer too.

If people prefer the top-end then manufacturers will get the confidence and provide more of then but people are cost minded and FE oriented safety features are not even an option in their horizon. This is a collective effort which if done will fruit results. We can't clap with one hand, so government + manufacturer + customer must wake up and buy cars with safety than wider tyres, DRL, ACC.

Anurag.

It reminds me of a Hindi saying " Jo dikhta hai woh bikta hai" to translate " anything that is visible sells". In India market behaves in this pattern. You will love to pay for what you can see and looks attractive.

Yes, what you mentioned is the moral of the story. Change has to come from the customer and with that companies will respond immediately to the changing customer preference.

I'll say which car/ manufacturer has the highest answer to "Kitna Deti Hai?" will sell. People will do hell with dual SRS-Airbags and seat belt pre-tensioners.

I was badly discouraged by colleagues and a few family members when I was buying my new car as a I wanted top-end ONLY. Many replies were like -

1) City driving speed is 30-50 kmph, why do I need ABS & Airbags for this!

And since I drive long (110 kms a day) all were pressurising me to buy a car that has the best FE amd not safest car.

ZXi/ZDi are available in most of the cars but they hardly sell but the L & V variants get the sales figures. This is the depressing part which is making manufacturers also skimp in safety. I'd the customer doesn't ask why should I be bothered to provide the safety.

Anurag.

Out of sight is out of mind. Different context but still applies to this situation. Which is why these invisible safety features should be made mandatory.

After all, how many people would realize the the importance of the airbags which are invisible, and used only once in their lifetime and cost almost a second-hand Nano to buy? On the other hand things like fuel efficiency are easier to understand and see every day.

But with the crash testing norms set to be tightened, mandatory ABS for heavy vehicles I think things are changing, though slowly.

Am sure an excellent review of Celerio is in the making. Am sure some of these will find a mention there.

Narrating a small instance which happened in my office.

One of my colleague wanted to buy new car and he usually consults me before looking for any car. Recently there was an Ad of Ford reducing Classic Fiesta price by 1L. When checked the car features it was missing safety features like, Airbag, ABS.
So, I insisted my colleague not to buy it. Asked him to wait for some more time if he is currently limited on budget for buying highend variant (with all safety features).

While this discussion was going on. One of his team-mate, started arguing with me on the need of Airbag, ABS as they are not used daily.

ME: These are your safety features. You may not use them daily, but these will be there to save your life when you need them at the most.
The other guy (TOG): No, these are absolutely now required. Drive slow. Why you want to drive fast?
ME: Your driving speed does not matter here. You can control your driving speed, not others! Even with you driving at 10kmph, still someone can knock you down.
<still he is not convinced>
TOG: How many insurance do you have?
ME: A couple of them
TOG: You better invest in more insurance than these features in a car
:Frustrati

Conclusion: In India people give damn about safety features. More than blaming car manufacturers, we need to blame ourselves and govt.

Of course we have that choice.

But with Government's intervention, the companies will mass produce air-bag component (as well as other safety components) resulting in 'em being cheaper to us, the end consumer and benefiting everyone.

A mass produced component is always cheaper than a niche.

It has to be. A bloke can buy an i Phone 5S for 50K+, but he won't spend 5K to buy a good helmet. This is where we need to change & with Government's intervention and awareness, that can be changed.

And companies like Ford & MUL should be asked by Government that when they equip cars with the same engine, why lower the braking parameter & tires? (Case in point being Swift & Figo)

My two cents :)