Government wants to make Airbags & ABS standard on new cars

[arunphilip]

How long will it be before manufacturers start complaining about their poor sales, and how this is going to worsen the situation?

I am immensely grateful for this decision, however, since I have fought a losing battle against some family members when they chose cars without these safety features, purely because they didn't want to go for the pricier variants that had these features.

[zenren]

Originally Posted by 1100D

Another positive outcome from this is that, there will be a frenzy on part of the manufacturers to have as many new models launched as they can before October '15 (So that they get into the 2 year lee-way period to comply). So till October '15 it promises to be an exciting race for all.

I too thought the same initially but on second thoughts, I don't think we'll see such a mad rush. Even for the existing models, they have to do it by 2017. 2017 deadline for compliance would mean most manufacturers have to plan on being compliant at least a few months before that since they cannot sell the pending stock from the last couple of months anywhere in India after they cross the deadline. Also, there would be some players in the current line up who are already compliant on the day the new standards are announced. So it would mean competing with them.

Since we are only speaking about launching totally new models here just before the 2015 October to get 2 year grace period, here are the scenarios I can think of:

Scenario 1:
Product is already ready to be launched and is in the final stages of testing. It is going to meet the new standards in its current form.
-They don't have to worry about Oct 2015 date.

Scenario 2:
Product is in the design/development stage and require considerable work to be completed. However, it is going to meet the new standards in its current design based on the simulations.
- They don't have to worry about Oct 2015 date either.

Scenario 3:
Product is ready to be launched and is in the final stages of testing. It is not going to meet the new standards in its current form but needs only minor redesign/changes to make it compliant.
- Their current plan would be a date earlier than Oct 2015 since the product is ready and have the option of launching it in the next few months and get a 2+ year period. Most likely, the companies might go ahead with the current plan since the guidelines could be delayed by a few months and they cannot wait against a floating deadline. October 2015 deadline is assuming they have the NCAP and the standards ready in March and a 6 month implementation time.

Scenario 4:
Product is in the design or development stage and require considerable work to be completed. It is not going to meet the new standards in its current design based on the simulations but should be possible to meet it with minor changes.
- They would continue the work and ensure they build it in a way that it is compliant from day 1. Again, no need to worry about Oct 2015 since they are compliant.

Scenario 5:
Product is in the design/development stage and require considerable work to be completed. It is going to meet the new standards in its current design based on the simulations.
- They are better off saving further R&D costs on a model that cannot be produced for even 2 years by scrapping the project and starting from square one. There is no way they can recover the costs in 2 years.

Scenario 6:
Product is already ready to be launched and is in the final stages of testing. It is not going to meet the new standards in its current form and needs major redesign to make it compliant.
- They'll have to launch it before October 2015 to make it as it is for another 2 years. Even if they cannot recover the entire cost, they might at least be able to reduce the loss if they are able to sell these for 2 years. However, common sense dictates that they'll have to offer heavy discounts push these off the shelves if it is known to be non-compliant. So high profits per car are also unlikely. Moreover, in 2 years when they re-design their product drastically to meet the new norms, it would have already attracted the label of a failed product. If they can export these to Africa or so, it might be worth continuing the effort; otherwise, no!

Thoughts?

[venuvedam]

Excellent news. Now I don't have to convince my family members to choose a higher end variant just for ABS/AB! (I am the car consultant for my family )

[jessie007]

Other than a sturdy structure, if only a driver-side airbag helps a vehicle pass the test, then manufacturers might resort to offering only driver's-side airbag on say the base variant of vehicles. Other than missing on passenger-side airbag, base & even middle variants might skip on ABS too. Don't know if ABS, in particular, has any role to play in the 56 km/hr frontal crash test, as the vehicles are set-up to crash at a particular speed only with no role of braking.

[4x4addict]

Woo Hoo, This is fantastic news.

But, I am sure manufacturers will fight this too than nail. The are much happier adding cheap chinese gimmickry like auto headlamps, auto wipers etc, where the electronics cost next to nothing when bought in high volumes, rather than give ABS & Air Bags.

[S_U_N]

Good to hear this. Can someone point me to manufacturers of airbags and ABS systems in India?

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Can someone point me to manufacturers of airbags and ABS systems in India?

Picking up shares in those companies, are we?

[heavenlybull]

Awesome news! This is the best news to come from the car industry for a very long time. Shows what a proactive government and a few crash test results by a global agency can do. Finally airbags, ABS will become affordable. Since all manufacturers already have top variants of their cars with ABS, airbags, they don't have to do much tinkering and can start to roll out safe cars well before the deadline - at least responsible manufacturers can.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Good to hear this. Can someone point me to manufacturers of airbags and ABS systems in India?

I'm not sure but gut feeling says both of these must be imported in India.

Originally Posted by arunphilip

Picking up shares in those companies, are we?

Good one mate!

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

Picking up shares in those companies, are we?

If they are listed, then surely yes.

[Nitthari]

Finally the government wakes up and smells the coffee. Though delayed, this is really a great and much welcome news. Even though this will increase the prices of the cars in the medium term, nothing could be costlier than a human life.

On the other hand I came across this piece of news in The Hindu today
http://www.thehindu.com/business/Ind...cle6564565.ece

I was shocked to see the SIAM Director lashing out at NCAP. I believe that it is not fair to put down somebody to cover our shortcomings. He also quotes that "Our cars are meeting safety norms set by the government". Can someone throw some light on what "safety norms" do we have in India?

[revintup]

I have had infinite arguements with friends and family over the need for safety features and have come across a common line of thinking that I would like to highlight here.

Almost everyone has owned a two wheeler at some point of time before they get their hands on a car, and the feeling of safety provided by just the 4 wheels itself is assuring for some as they always compare it to their old bike or scooter.

The grand old Ambassador had next to zilch safety features and it is still this car that many people compare their current rides to (wait, did not George uncle's amby have a handle for the front passenger to hold on to? )

[richie4u]

Finally music to my ears. Always had a grudge against manufactures cause I had to pay for safety and my car came with other crap that I did not even need. So now that this will be the new policy,will there be a delay for cars that were supposed to be released early 2015 or will manufacturers still go for it and do the changes later?

[Chetan_Rao]

While I'm glad the discussion about safety features has finally hit mainstream conversation, I'm surprised why nobody's discussing rear wipers/defoggers? It helps immensely with removing condensation in the rainy season thereby enhancing rearwards visibility (especially in sedans that don't have a rear wiper), even if one lives in areas that don't see foggy winters.

[arnabchak]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

While I'm glad the discussion about safety features has finally hit mainstream conversation, I'm surprised why nobody's discussing rear wipers/defoggers? It helps immensely with removing condensation in the rainy season thereby enhancing rearwards visibility (especially in sedans that don't have a rear wiper), even if one lives in areas that don't see foggy winters.

Lets take things one at a time.

"Ungli pakdaya hain. Haath nahi"
We wait for this implementation and then the next set of demands can come through!!

Just hope that we stick to the timelines and get it implemented in teh first place without any further discrepancies.