[The Rationalist]

Tata is getting better and better in terms of safety. How I wish they had given turbo petrol and non-AMT automatics as an option. Great job anyway, hope safety remains the USP going ahead also.

Waiting for the Korean fanboys to give pearls like, it’s not just crash ratings that determine the safety of a car, the one behind the wheels is more important! I think they haven’t even thought about drivers of other vehicles whom the self proclaimed “gifted” drivers have to be wary about.

[shancz]

Brilliant and Congratulations to TML

Proves the Alfa platform's safety creds and can safely assume a 5 star result from future Alfa products.

This car is going to be quite a seller.
TML has to up its game on the service side of things ASAP.

[Ragul]

So is there any other car at this price point with >4star safety rating? Just trying to understand the competition field for safety conscious customers.

[PrasannaDhana]

No surprise that it got 5 stars as it's based on the same modular Alfa platform that Altroz is built on.

Now, will Tata exploit this safety advantage in overpricing the punch is yet to be seen. I really hope they pitch it in the vicinity of Ignis and not close to swift/baleno.

[red_nemesis]

Originally Posted by ron178

Tata Punch scores a 5 star Global NCAP rating for adult occupant protection (16.45 points) and 4 stars for child occupant protection (40.89) - the highest combined score for any car tested in India so far. Highest ever adult occupant protection score in India too, with child occupant protection marginally outdone by the Mahindra Thar at 41.11 points.

That's great news. Not really surprised by this one, was kind of expected considering the platform sharing between Punch and Altroz.

I have a feeling Tata will definitely rake in the numbers with this one.

[PrasannaDhana]

Punch takes the "cheapest 5 star car" title away from the Atlroz

Also wondering what is stopping Tata from getting their flagship Safari and Harrier tested?!.

[VRJ]

Commendable effort by TATA. I’m very happy and proud of TATA. It’s not a 3 or a 4 star, it’s a damn 5 star rated car for 5-8 lakh . Again, it’s not just another 5 star rated car, it’s a fiver with the highest adult protection score tested by GNCAP for India.

Costs less than half of a Kia Seltos and it scored more than twice the safety points for adult protection and almost thrice for child safety. Thank you TATA for putting the life’s of Indians ahead of your bottom line.




Source: Rushlane Twitter.

Cheers!

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by Shreyas_H

I guess it's a known industry secret that the FCA sourced 2.0 L Diesel causes protrusion into the Harrier/Safari cabin thereby affecting the driver side impact score and hence the rating.

I feel that if and when Tata gets a Petrol on the Harrier, they will send it for testing.

Nonetheless this is a fantastic achievement by Tata for the Punch! Should help their sales and rightfully so

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Punch takes the "cheapest 5 star car" title away from the Atlroz

Also wondering what is stopping Tata from getting their flagship Safari and Harrier tested?!.

A birdie tells me :

In current configuration, the Harrier twins will score 4 star at best. As per internal deliberations this will be a marketing nightmare; cheaper cars achieving 5 star while top-most cars in stable being a star less. So, TaMo is not 'excited' about voluntarily offering these for testing.

One question though, I am sure KIA wouldn't have offered Seltos 'voluntarily' for testing. So, what's stopping GNCAP to pick Harrier/ Safari from open market and test it ? In the past as well GNCAP has tested vehicles on it's own, so why make an exception now ?

[PrasannaDhana]

Meanwhile, I am thinking of the various jibes that the naughty Tata marketing team are preparing to unleash on Maruti and Hyundai.
God bless competition! The top 5 safest cars in India are all Indian.

[Nithesh_M]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Also wondering what is stopping Tata from getting their flagship Safari and Harrier tested?!.

Bigger question is what's stopping GNcap from picking up base models from dealership and testing themselves?
Surely that was the way Gncap used to work?

[krishnakumar]

What a fantastic result!! Incredible to see home-grown brands rightfully putting safety first!

Now Tata, I BEG you. The next 5* treatment you need to give is for your dealers and ASS. They are quite literally becoming your pain in the ASS.

C'mon, the single biggest thing that's stopping customers from walking into a showroom and booking one of your cars is the reputation you've built over the years as a "sarkari company".

I want to bring the Nexon home but it seems your dealers just don't want to sell me one.

[lemedico]

Apart from the car itself, now I'm actually waiting for the witty advertisements, punching their competitors who score fewer stars(or any if at all)!

Go on Tata, you fill us with pride!

[Bluengel180]

Put a better engine in this and watch it outsell the Nexon.

Good Job TATA, Now please test the Harrier twins.

[discoverwild]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Also wondering what is stopping Tata from getting their flagship Safari and Harrier tested?!.

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

Bigger question is what's stopping GNcap from picking up base models from dealership and testing themselves?
Surely that was the way Gncap used to work?

My guess why GNCAP is not picking up larger cars for testing could be the pricing. Not just the car, but all the associated paraphernalia (dummies, electronics, gadgetry) required to run tests for the same. Do note that they need a minimum of two cars (frontal collision and side collision) to run their tests.

And if you end up testing one, there will be a loud cry to test the rest of the cars of the same size from other companies too. So overall costs might be prohibitive for an independent agency.

Just my opinion. Could be wrong too.

[ron178]

This is good progress from Tata, consistently outdoing themselves with each test. But I'm not as happy about the result as I would've been not too long ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud as punch that Tata has taken initiative in this regard and has successfully proven that safety sells. But I can't help feeling that they're doing only what it takes to score 5 stars and not much more (of course, we still have manufacturers who aren't even doing that - but then even some of them offer ESC and side and curtain airbags). It's surprising that some of their cars, even five star rated ones, don't get ESC, side head protection airbags (neither combination torso+head nor head curtains) and three-point safety belts in the centre rear seat. Not even as an option. Besides the Global NCAP rating I can't help feeling that the top-end variants of the Punch and Altroz aren't too well-kitted with safety equipment, for cars sold in 2021. It's surprising that what Tata is now advertising as 'India's Safest Car' misses out on some life-saving safety equipment.

But I'd still call it progress. After all, Tata has had a major role in raising safety expectations in the first place. I don't mean to blame Tata specifically - it's just that competitors who offer these modern safety features often don't score very well on frontal impact itself - leaving the effectiveness of side torso and head protection equipment in serious question (in the absence of standard side MDB and pole impact testing by Global NCAP at present), and some manufacturers, like Tata, who do score well on frontal impact, don't offer this potentially life-saving equipment.

In short, the buyer usually has to pick between a good crash test rating and good safety equipment - which is ironic, and which is why I'm relieved Global NCAP is updating its protocol in July 2022 to include these. Hopefully, Tata will do something about it before then. A 2-star rating would hurt Tata's hard-earned reputation very, very badly (it's inevitable since optional ESC will be a 3-star requirement).

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

Bigger question is what's stopping GNCAP from picking up base models from dealership and testing themselves?

Global NCAP selects a few cars to test from both markets (India and South Africa) every year, however, they're severely constrained by budget and make do with the limited funding they get from their donors (FIA Foundation, Bloomberg.org, ICRT, Road Safety Fund). Manufacturers are allowed to sponsor a test on a model with basic safety equipment, and those who are confident of high ratings for a product often do so, especially to advertise it during the launch. If Global NCAP had a lot more funding, like Euro NCAP, ANCAP and others, they would have definitely tested more models, including possibly the Harrier/Safari, despite Tata not sponsoring a test on it.

Let's keep our fingers crossed - there is a small but non-zero chance that they will test the Harrier/Safari themselves. Since Global NCAP's 2021 World Congress is scheduled for the 26th-28th October 2021 (I'm beginning to question this because there seem to be no updates about the event), there is a high possibility that results for the cars they select themselves will be revealed within two weeks from now, though it's still possible they'll be revealed later than that. We'll have to hope they test the Harrier. They don't usually have enough funds to test multiple C-segment models - and the smaller cars are usually where manufacturers make the most compromises. If old rumours are to be trusted, they might test the MG Hector, so I doubt they'd be able to test the Harrier too. All we can do at present is wait.