[Dr.Naren]

Few observations and comparison about crash test results

Baleno
1.It is made in India and Kerb weight is 890 kgs which is almost same as Indian version.
2.Baleno scored 3 stars with front and side airbags.
3.Body shell was stable.
4 .Side impact test would have been better if airbags deployed in correct manner(I consider this as a minor issue with sensor/software which can be easily rectified by Suzuki)
5.Baleno is 10 percent stronger than swift

Swift
1.European swift scored 5 stars and body shell was stable.
2.Indian swift crumpled badly in comparison and body shell was rated unstable.
3.Swift weighs 100 kgs more than baleno.

My Analysis
1.Safety review of baleno is better than swift, made in India. This again confirms that weight is not the only factor for safety. With a 10 percent stronger body shell, baleno was stable compared to swift.
2.Euro NCAP norms are the most strict compared to other crash tests
3.Comparison with swift is to point out that Maruti is doing good job by making airbags standard, not compromising on body shell etc
4.Baleno crash test results is nothing great. It is pretty decent. Cabin is not rated unstable (Many Indian made cars failed to pass the crash tests and body shell was rated poor)

[Lalvaz]

I'm waiting for the day that MSIL publishes crash test results for its 'Sold in India' cars. That will be the day that I will consider buying another Maruti car. Till then all these tests of Euro spec cars mean nothing to me.

So far, MSIL has been ignoring my requests for crash test reports even though I'm a loyal Maruti customer and am more than willing to pay for a 5 star rated car from Maruti.

[Kamal]

Originally Posted by .anshuman

This is a shame. The older Designed for Europe- Swift(not the car sold here) scored 5 stars in Euro NCAP few years back. Suzuki is perfectly capable of making a 5 star capable car. Expect the feather light Indian Baleno to be even worse.

How do you cover up in Indian market, so that Global NCAP guys do not shame you publicly by randomly testing the base variant, just offer ABS and Airbags as standard. This works well in a country where ignorant masses think once you get an airbags equipped car you become invincible.

I feel crash testing should be mandatory for all cars sold in India. And safety equipment like ABS and dual front Airbags be made mandatory for all cars, for higher segments beyond a certain price point and power figure- ESP and Curtain airbags be made compulsory.

I agree that crash testing should be made mandatory in India & permission to sell should be based on the results thereof.
Masses ignorance apart, Auto magazines, portals should also give high importance to the safety aspect; e,g, in the highly detailed official TeamBhp review of the Baleno , only a passing reference to the safety aspect was made.
Methinks this needs to change;once opinion leaders start emphasizing safety, masses will get educated too.
I'm a 2 day old owner of a Baleno & the rating has left me a bit sick.
I had expected a better result after all the talk by Maruti about TECT bodyshell design etc.
I hope pressure is brought to bear on Maruti to at least offer the Safety Pack as an option here in India.
Can the Team BHP leadership please take the initiative in this?
Thanks.

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

I'm waiting for the day that MSIL publishes crash test results for its 'Sold in India' cars. That will be the day that I will consider buying another Maruti car. Till then all these tests of Euro spec cars mean nothing to me.

So far, MSIL has been ignoring my requests for crash test reports even though I'm a loyal Maruti customer and am more than willing to pay for a 5 star rated car from Maruti.

I understand that the S Cross is 5 star rated, so there's one at least in the Maruti stable

Originally Posted by GTO

I can put up pictures of a Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7-Series that have crumpled beyond recognition after a crash. These pictures don't say anything and are absolutely worthless in gauging the safety of a car.
Attachment 1499221
Source

Absolutely agree!
Someone also made the point that even a 5 Star rating does not mean that the car will be safe when driven at twice the speeds at which they are tested by NCAP; horrifyingly, I keep reading posts in various fora about owners boasting about stability even when the Baleno is driven at speeds in excess of 120 kmph!
I do hope TeamBhp will lay even more emphasis on the safety aspect in reviews/advice on buying & on responsible driving.

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by WRXXX

One important thing to consider here is this Baleno is made in India one, Swift that earned a 5 STAR rating before is an Hungarian one. I think only Vento and Etios which were made here and tested in LatinNCAP and scored a 4 STAR. Do we happen to know any other car that is made in India and scored higher ratings in euroncap?
That would be a fair comparision to see how well MSIL executed on a global safety requirement. But overall the shell itself seemed to hold up quite well and the side impact beams seemed to protect well too.

PS:- I suppose you meant the TECT bodyshell.

I understand your point.
Yes, the Swift which scored 5* in EuroNCAP was made in Europe.
The Indian Swift scored 0* or even worse actually.

From Suzuki's (Europe ) point of view , it's actually a downgrade to see the newer car with supposedly superior technology having inferior ratings compared to the older model.No?

Now, coming to the Indian Baleno vs the Indian Swift, I think the Baleno will do much better as the Indian Swift fared really poorly in the crash tests. But, just because the car is made in India or the body weight being similar, it is not fair to assume that the Baleno sold in India will fare exactly the same as the one sold in Europe which was tested. (We have had lots of arguments in Team BHP about this and it is inconclusive as there have been several cases where export versions of the car having better build quality etc). The only way to ensure that will be to perform the same tests on the Baleno sold in India.

Comparing Baleno to some of the competitors, the European Baleno clearly is behind some of its European competitors as I mentioned above. This is the only apples-to-apples comparison we can make. Whether the Indian Baleno will be better or worse than those competitors sold in India is anyone's guess. We can't assume that the Indian Baleno will have same quality as the European Baleno whereas the competitors will have inferior quality than the respective European models just because the Baleno is exported from here. And we can't assume the other way as well.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Kamal

I understand that the S Cross is 5 star rated, so there's one at least in the Maruti stable.

Here are the 5 star Euro NCAP certified Suzuki cars from 2010 on-wards,

[anjan_c2007]

In fact, frontal and side crash tests besides pedestrian protection test @ 56 kmph (frontal) and @ 50 kmph (side impact) will be mandatory in India from October 2017 onwards. The Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme (BNVSAP) on the lines of New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) will be in vogue by then. The tests will be mandatory for all new models and for existing models the deadline for compliance is October 2019. The GOI notification to the effect has been issued, if we are to go by the Times of India news report (link below) to enable the automobile manufacturers, tighten up their belts and phase out the vehicle models that would not be able to comply with the BNVSAP/ NCAP safety star ratings.

For instance, the Ambassador (had it lived?) would have had to automatically go by October 2019, post the mandatory NCAP dates and so also perhaps the ladder frame chassis models - Mahindra has some of them in their portfolio and so also Force Motors and Tata. I may have missed some of the manufacturers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/b...w/47209480.cms

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharat...ssment_Program

[Doge]

Three stars is pretty awful for a brand new car of Baleno's class in Europe. I'm sure all reviews of the Baleno in Eu will point out it's disappointing crash test rating as a major negative. What happened to all that next gen lightweight construction that MS was boasting about?
Anyway, who cares? It's a Maruti and it has lots of equipment. After all,touchscreen is any day more useful than side airbags.

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by Kamal

I agree that crash testing should be made mandatory in India & permission to sell should be based on the results thereof.
Masses ignorance apart, Auto magazines, portals should also give high importance to the safety aspect; e,g, in the highly detailed official TeamBhp review of the Baleno , only a passing reference to the safety aspect was made.
Methinks this needs to change;once opinion leaders start emphasizing safety, masses will get educated too.
I'm a 2 day old owner of a Baleno & the rating has left me a bit sick.
I had expected a better result after all the talk by Maruti about TECT bodyshell design etc.
I hope pressure is brought to bear on Maruti to at least offer the Safety Pack as an option here in India.
Can the Team BHP leadership please take the initiative in this?
Thanks.


I understand that the S Cross is 5 star rated, so there's one at least in the Maruti stable

Yes, I totally agree that we should emphasise the safety aspects in our reviews. Only when we ask the automobile head honchos these questions repeatedly will they take the Indian customer seriously. Otherwise it's just talk about touchscreen displays, alloy wheels, chrome garnishes etc.

MSIL is not giving a copy of the crash test results for the S cross. I have asked for it repeatedly but to no avail. Would really appreciate if anyone here could help me get a copy of the same. If it does get a 5 star rating, I will buy it immediately.

Till I don't see the report, all these tests for Euro spec cars mean nothing.

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by Lalvaz

MSIL is not giving a copy of the crash test results for the S cross. I have asked for it repeatedly but to no avail. Would really appreciate if anyone here could help me get a copy of the same. If it does get a 5 star rating, I will buy it immediately.

There is no mention of the Indian S Cross being crash tested so I doubt you will get any such report as of now.

The Sx4 ( S Cross) for Europe and the ASEAN reports are the only ones availble for S Cross - both having 5 star rating- but not related to the Indian built S Cross.

[The AG 6167]

Originally Posted by adimicra

I understand your point.
Yes, the Swift which scored 5* in EuroNCAP was made in Europe.
The Indian Swift scored 0* or even worse actually.

From Suzuki's (Europe ) point of view , it's actually a downgrade to see the newer car with supposedly superior technology having inferior ratings compared to the older model.No?

Now, coming to the Indian Baleno vs the Indian Swift, I think the Baleno will do much better as the Indian Swift fared really poorly in the crash tests. But, just because the car is made in India or the body weight being similar, it is not fair to assume that the Baleno sold in India will fare exactly the same as the one sold in Europe which was tested. (We have had lots of arguments in Team BHP about this and it is inconclusive as there have been several cases where export versions of the car having better build quality etc). The only way to ensure that will be to perform the same tests on the Baleno sold in India.

Comparing Baleno to some of the competitors, the European Baleno clearly is behind some of its European competitors as I mentioned above. This is the only apples-to-apples comparison we can make. Whether the Indian Baleno will be better or worse than those competitors sold in India is anyone's guess. We can't assume that the Indian Baleno will have same quality as the European Baleno whereas the competitors will have inferior quality than the respective European models just because the Baleno is exported from here. And we can't assume the other way as well.

Thank you for putting up your point of you but mine strongly differs from it.

Yes, the Baleno that has scored a 3 star rating at the Euro Ncap tests is equipped with 6 airbags so the story is going to be different with the indian spec car but the body shell is made of the same materials as the car is made in india & this has been confirmed by many people on this forum by inquiring with maruti officials. Further, leading automotive websites have also mentioned the same and weight is a measure to understand that the metal used on the vehicle is the same.

To give a few examples of the European rivals you mentioned -

1. Honda Jazz - India (1044kgs), Europe (1100kgs)

2.I20 - India (1066kgs), Europe (1100kgs)

3.Polo - India (1033kgs), Europe (1035kgs)

So clearly other than the Polo, the cars are using different metal in the two countries keeping us clueless about how are they going to perform in India whereas the Baleno weighs exactly 890kgs in both countries. Now unless Suzuki is using Duralumin for building the European Baleno it is impossible to achieve the same weight & a tougher build than the Indian version & that said they definitely cant use Duralumin because that would catapault its cost to almost 3 times the usual.

Coming to the zero stars on the Indian swift you mentioned, I'd like to point it out to you that the swift which scored a 0 was the lxi version without the airbags or ABS. Eventually when the zxi version was tested it was rated a solid 4 stars by ASEAN Ncap standards.

Next as to why have I taken the swift as a benchmark is because -

1.firstly I know how would it perform in a crash in India which is not true for the Europeans

2.I could choose the Polo for a comparison but that is outright unfair given the fact that its in a different league of safety altogether but that's not the only thing you want from a car is it? If a car is safe enough to save your life & heavy injuries the rest lies on the driver & a bad driver can crumple a polo like a beer can too. Now am not promoting unsafe cars here but what I am saying is if a car scores 90% on adult occupant safety but offers nothing else is not exactly what a practical person would buy against a car offering 80% adult occupant safety with a lot more (comparing the polo petrol with the Baleno petrol here, polo diesel, gt tdi and gt tsi offer bags more than the Baleno in terms of functionality).

3.The number of polos in our country is not even half the number of swifts/dzires & so there could be a higher number Baleno-swift crashes than Baleno-Polos.

Lastly on why Suzuki has degraded from the swift's 5 star to the Baleno's 3 star in Europe, I agree to you. But I am buying my car in India and to my eye, the Baleno has a more stable body shell than the indian spec swift.

Also, with all due respect to a senior BHPian, i20 is from korea and jazz from Japan, its only the polo which is the European rival here, however, I presume you meant to say European spec cars of the three.

[SoumenD]

Sad to see the Baleno score 3 stars. This automatically translates into 2*(?) for the one sold in India with just frontal airbags? No wonder Maruti played smart by giving safety equipment as standard post the Swift Lxi scoring a shameful 0 star. Its like something is better than nothing

BTW i20 scored 4 stars in Euro NCAP last year. Link

Does this mean baleno is an inferior car from safety POV?

P.S : Was pinning my hopes on this(owing to lack of decent petrol premium hatches) as my upgrade once I returned but now looks I will have to wait further till they test India spec Baleno

[sprocket]

Originally Posted by Kamal

Can the Team BHP leadership please take the initiative in this?

I do hope TeamBhp will lay even more emphasis on the safety aspect in reviews/advice on buying & on responsible driving.

Good idea. Would it be possible for each team-bhp review to have a safety star rating as well? Either based on reviews elsewhere and/or based on safety features available (and differentiate between variants of the car)..

Better - why not does NCAP/BNVSAP not tie up with team-bhp..

[adimicra]

Originally Posted by The AG 6167

Thank you for putting up your point of you but mine strongly differs from it.

Yes, the Baleno that has scored a 3 star rating at the Euro Ncap tests is equipped with 6 airbags so the story is going to be different with the indian spec car but the body shell is made of the same materials as the car is made in india & this has been confirmed by many people on this forum by inquiring with maruti officials. Further, leading automotive websites have also mentioned the same and weight is a measure to understand that the metal used on the vehicle is the same.

To give a few examples of the European rivals you mentioned -

1. Honda Jazz - India (1044kgs), Europe (1100kgs)

2.I20 - India (1066kgs), Europe (1100kgs)

3.Polo - India (1033kgs), Europe (1035kgs)

So clearly other than the Polo, the cars are using different metal in the two countries keeping us clueless about how are they going to perform in India whereas the Baleno weighs exactly 890kgs in both countries.

I will keep it short and simple with Jazz as the example.
Indian Jazz with 2 airbags weigh around 1044 kgs. (source: Honda India site)
The base UK model weighs 1066 kgs which has a BIGGER Engine and different 6 speed gearbox plus 6 airbags, VSA and lots of other safety measures etc etc. (source: Honda UK wite)
So, your assumption that I20 or Jazz is using different metal or construction for India versus European models is baseless. They might or might not. We don't know.

OK, back to the Baleno.
There are 2 ways to look at the results -
1> A brand new car scoring less than older models like Swift and S-cross or some competitors is disappointing.
2> Baleno should be better than the Indian Swift as hopefully Maruti would have maintained the same quality as the export model. So, results are encouraging.

[WRXXX]

Few things to consider before talking.

Especially this notice which states STARs of previous years shouldn't be directly compared to the current year as the STAR is based on that years STAR assessment protocols.

Baleno without safety pack does as well as one without in the crash tests is a good sign of structural integrity. I am happy that structure didn't crumble.

Sorry I can't comment on how safe it is compared to a Jazz built outside which got 5 STAR rating in 2015 to an India built Baleno sold in Europe and tested in 2016 based on 2016 protocols and got 4 STAR. Too many variables and guess work,

For the Indian public, we shouldn't get fooled by the STARs alone as the Indian version will probably get 1 STAR in the absence of curtain airbags? But improvement on structural integrity is something that is appreciated. I would say for sure you will see STARs if you collide with a truck/bus here in most of the cars

[Waspune]

First of all lets not compare Swift with Baleno as they belong to different segments. So, if Baleno performed better than Swift, its nothing great, after all you are putting more money to buy it. Baleno should be compared with its other fellow segment mates like i20, Jazz, Polo and Punto, where it lags behind by a good margin. Maruti should stop taking the Indian market for granted, which seems improbable, thanks to their sales' numbers.