[malq]

Dear zenren -

Originally Posted by zenren

I didn't know there was a VDi ABS variant on offer for Swift in 2012. Are you sure it is not just an ABS sticker your friend put at the rear?

There are nice little black coloured boxes in the front left hand side of all three Swift VDi cars.


Since when did Zest have airbags in all variants? AFAIK, it is only available in XMS and XT variants. The much acclaimed diesel AMT variant is without ABS and airbags!

There is a mailer/pamphlet in today's HT in Delhi which mentions 2 airbags in every Zest (and an ad in yesterday's HT that specifies 2 airbags in every Etios)

Humbly submitted

malQ

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by RavSam

Reply from VP marketing of MUL:

Attachment 1305561

Well

"All our cars meet the highest safety standards set by Indian government and regulatory bodies in the country"
He means the car has ISI mudra?

It would be great if the regulatory body concerned or the govt would come forward and make the car buying public aware of what tests/standards are in place and the rating of each car.

I am sure that no passenger car would be allowed to be sold in India unless the vehicle meets these "standards"? SO if a maruti omni can meet these standards i honestly don't want to know more about the highest safety standards we have in place!

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by RavSam

Reply from VP marketing of MUL:

Attachment 1305561

Well

What a terrible terrible terrible reply from MUL! I believe he thinks the aam janata is misinformed about these tests? 64kmph is a normal speed at which the test was conducted. We do have motorways with greater speed limit than that. It seems Mr. Bhat hasn't traveled across the country to know this basic fact.

I hope he takes a leaf out of VW's book when they made airbags standard for all variants of the Polo when it failed to meet NCAP ratings.

EDIT: On the other hand, the international Swift seems to have a rating of 5 stars: http://www.euroncap.com/results/suzu.../2010/403.aspx

[zenren]

Originally Posted by malq

There are nice little black coloured boxes in the front left hand side of all three Swift VDi cars.

Are you sure it is 2012 model? The new model Swift (current generation) was introduced in 2011 and Maruti removed the ABS option on V variants from that point. So I don't understand how your friend can have a 2012 model Swift VDi with ABS.

Originally Posted by malq

There is a mailer/pamphlet in today's HT in Delhi which mentions 2 airbags in every Zest (and an ad in yesterday's HT that specifies 2 airbags in every Etios)

I'm aware of Etios and Liva giving airbags but the news on Zest is something I've not heard till now. Did anyone else hear this? I don't see any mention of it in online dailies as well and the Zest site is also not updated.

If they are making the airbags as standard, would that mean they'll withdraw the XMS variant from their lineup? ABS is already available in XM variant.

If this is true, it would be welcome news to the XMA buyers since they finally get a diesel automatic with safety kit.

[shashank.nk]

I think Mr. Bhat either flies or takes some other mode of transportation other than road to be saying cars don't reach such speeds here. I can't recollect the number of time i've been overtaken by a Alto/Swift at speeds well in excess of a 100 km/hr. So if the Swift gets 0 ratings at 64 km/h, I can't even imagine what would happen at speeds in excess of 100 km/hr.

Being the leading manufacturer in our country,they should have atleast made safety features optional on all variants if not make them part of standard equipment. This attitude,though not new,is surely disappointing in 2014. I hope more an more are made aware of the safety ratings.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by RavSam

Reply from VP marketing of MUL:

Attachment 1305561

Well

This just beggars belief! Appalling would be an understatement here! This does tell you what is focus at Maruti *hint hint* It is not safety at all. Remember the brake fiasco with the LDi and VDi models having smaller brake booster or something? This company will stoop to any level to earn an extra penny on their cars. Utter shamelessness!

Did any one tell him that the frontal offset crash test is conducted at 64 kmph?
The only way to teach them a lesson would be stop buying their third rate crap in the same of fuel economy.

[alavandar]

Originally Posted by shashank.nk

I think Mr. Bhat either flies or takes some other mode of transportation other than road to be saying cars don't reach such speeds here. I can't recollect the number of time i've been overtaken by a Alto/Swift at speeds well in excess of a 100 km/hr. So if the Swift gets 0 ratings at 64 km/h, I can't even imagine what would happen at speeds in excess of 100 km/hr.

Being the leading manufacturer in our country,they should have atleast made safety features optional on all variants if not make them part of standard equipment. This attitude,though not new,is surely disappointing in 2014. I hope more an more are made aware of the safety ratings.

People get carried away by the name "Swift" thinking it is a super car. How fast a car can be safely driven depends on many factors - Road and traffic condition, weather and light (day/night), visibility, how fast you can brake to stand still, inherent safety features of the car (like crumple zones, air bags etc) and the driver's skills. Give me a swift I will be comfortable only upto 100 kph. But I have seen Swifts doing 140 plus and still trying to over take cars which are much beyond their league. They fail to appreciate that the other guy limits his speed not because he cannot go higher but because it may become unsafe to other road users. I really pity the Swift drivers doing unmanageable high speeds because "what if some thing happens..." which they are not aware or they do not care about. Having said that, clearing/ rating by the frontal crash test at 64 kmph, antilock braking and provision of air bags must be made mandatory for all Indian cars across the board.

[hserus]

If he is talking about city driving conditions it is fairly rare to hit 60+ kmph in the city, ok. However there are long straight stretches (such as the adyar bridge, OMR etc in chennai) where that happens routinely. As for highways I'd love to see just how many people care about published speed limits there.

I take that PR statement - and this from the industry body as well, parroting the same line - with a truckload of salt.

Right now I'm just praying that while I will continue to drive carefully, I don't run headfirst into a drunk / out of control twit coming from the other side of the road. When that happens it's far better to be in an NCAP certified car than one that's failed NCAP ratings.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/45037615.cms

[alpha1]

Believe me this is all temporary.
In today's world "news" like these last only few weeks creating a temporary disruption and life continues like it was soon afterwards.

The points are clear:
1. Govt has to own the regulations sphere. Govt dictates literally what is safe enough to be allowed to be present and sold
2. Manufacturers will always try to improve their profit by reducing the costs. The limit is dictated by the Govt regulations
3. Buyers don't have a long term vision of events whose occurrence is very low, and the vision about consequences of those events is even less. Heck, they don't even acknowledge short events like losing control of vehicle while driving under influence.

The only way to make this disruption permanent is rational govt regulations.

[alavandar]

Originally Posted by hserus

If he is talking about city driving conditions it is fairly rare to hit 60+ kmph in the city, ok. However there are long straight stretches (such as the adyar bridge, OMR etc in chennai) where that happens routinely. As for highways I'd love to see just how many people care about published speed limits there.
I take that PR statement - and this from the industry body as well, parroting the same line - with a truckload of salt.

It is a common sight to see Swifts especially Swifts on high ways getting into the ego hurt mood and do 130 plus when the road conditions do not favour that speed. I think this PR guy has never hit the high way or too blind to observe.

Originally Posted by hserus

Right now I'm just praying that while I will continue to drive carefully, I don't run headfirst into a drunk / out of control twit coming from the other side of the road. When that happens it's far better to be in an NCAP certified car than one that's failed NCAP ratings.

On high ways I am especially concerned with Swift guys. They over take in an unsafe manner, think you are weak if you slow down due to traffic and abuse if you do not let them over take.

Originally Posted by hserus

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/45037615.cms

Thanks and I had gone through th link. SIAM will defend the stand of MZ or Nissan and I am not surprised. They were not cheating but they were hood winking the customers. MS was addicting the customers with a low end, low safety junk food product, which, unfortunately caught the imagination of the buyers and a product of envy.

[blue_pulsar]

Originally Posted by RavSam

Reply from VP marketing of MUL:

Attachment 1305561

Well

MSIL, utterly shameless response. Building unsafe cars is one thing, but, not even acknowledging the fact that cars can be built safer is shameless and irresponsible. The number of informed customers is exponentially growing and its about time you fall in the eyes of general public.

I would say we should demand public apology from MSIL for the statement made.

Of course, how would MSIL acknowledge the fact when it works hand-in-hand with bodies like these:

Originally Posted by hserus

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/45037615.cms

Would the SIAM official expect those cars to score 5-star if they were crash tested at 56km/h instead of 64km/h?

[Endless....]

[quote=malq;
The issue here is simple - I want to buy a lower variant but I want all the safety features, and Maruti is unable to give me that option on date. I have owned 2 Maruti Swift diesel cars, 2008, 2009, and sometimes drive a friend's 2012 Swift diesel. All three are VDi ABS. The quality drop is perceptible, and frankly, the best to drive even now is the 2008.

Fully agree. I own a ZDi and the primary driver for the top model was definitely not the Nippon Integrated music system, Climate control or those alloys. My need for the top model was purely out of the need for ABS, Airbags and peace of mind knowing that the Z variant had better breaks. Imagine how much i would have saved without any of the other non value items that I did not care two hoots about anyways.

[john doe]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Do you have a conclusive test result which shows that swift manufactured in India with Airbags is worse than the car sold in Europe?
If so, then please present it.

Here is an article that might show a realistic difference between the exported cars and our domestic cars. It talks about the Brazilian market, very similar to ours:

"One auto engineer described the situation by sketching two car body designs with identical perimeters, but one depicted internal gaps — missing body reinforcements.

He worked three decades for Volkswagen and spent the last 10 years as an independent engineering consultant for big automakers. He asked that his name not be published for fear of losing contracts and benefits.

"The secret of a car's body being able to withstand the crash test are the weld spots," he said.

"Let's say this is a German car," he pointed to the gapless sketch. "It's really sophisticated. Nothing is missing."

Then he pointed at the car made in Brazil, full of incomplete ink strokes.

"The Brazilian version looks the same from the outside, but it's missing pieces," he said. "In one version they include the reinforcement, in the other they don't. What's of interest is the final shape. What's inside, nobody can see."


http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-im...zil-are-deadly

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Many valid points throughout. Why can't they add ABS/Airbags atleast as an option to the lower variant? like how Swift/Ritz comes with/without ABS unit on VXI. wonder why not they add this option to LXI. Why we get these feature only on higher variant as a package?

On the other side, Car manufacturing companies are business units, they are not some charitable institution to serve people. In today's world making money is the core mantra. When baby products and food products are diluted and mixed with poisonous substances to make more money, from where we are expecting car companies to voluntarily come up and add safety equipment to safeguard its user?. It is the responsibility of Government to govern these things.

According to NCAP on NDTV show, Earlier even in Western countries, Car companies started looking over safety aspects only after Government's intervention.

[heavenlybull]

Originally Posted by searacer932

Folks, A number of people are saying that if you need airbags/ABS then go for the highest variant i.e. ZXi/ZDi. But it's just not airbags/ABS alone that comes with ZXi/ZDi and the price is north because of the alloys, leather seats, music system etc. So, what if I just need a simple base variant (read LXi/LDi) with ABS/airbag?

This is exactly what car makers want, to sell their high priced accessories bundled with top variants. If they start giving safety options in lower variants who will buy a ZXI/ZDI? A simple case of prioritizing profits over safety and well being. In fact SIAM's Mathur shamelessly stated exactly the same thing "What Global NCAP should be doing is to spread awareness on safety and encourage customers to buy cars with all safety features, even if they come at higher cost"