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-   -   Why no new BNCAP tests in the last 2 months? Is the voluntary program a failure? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/277736-why-no-new-bncap-tests-last-2-months-voluntary-program-failure.html)

Just after the launch of BNCAP , the crash ratings for TATA safari, XUV 700 were declared.
But its been long time we didn't hear about any new test results from BNCAP.
Is Voluntary nature of this program causing this hinderance ?
Looking at the showcased facilities during the launch of BNCAP, they are clearly capable of conducting one crash test per week but doing nothing from last two months.

Facelift with structural changes should also undergo BNCAP test.
It is applicable to all new vehicles only.
Nothing from Maruti and Hyundai as they share 60% plus market share. They were supposed to come out with results in dec-23 end but till no news.

The first lot of tests done were internal in nature and not for certification by BNCAP. This is a normal practice that allows OEMs to understand how the agency would judge.

Secondly, unlike most countries in the world, in India, the BNCAP norms are a regulation (voluntary as if now) and the regular crash regulatory agency is doing the certification. So, all players are approaching gingerly.

I would expect a plethora of results this month

This impression is partly because BNCAP made little effort at the start to conceal the number of requests and stop manufacturers from revealing which cars were being tested. We are used to GNCAP who make manufacturers, media etc. sign NDAs and all the results come as a surprise at once (usually).

For example did you know the GNCAP results for Hyundai i20 were released more than 6 months after it was tested, similarly in 2016 the Honda Mobilio and Tata Zest were tested along with Scorpio, Kwid etc. but were published almost at the end of the year because the manufacturers had volunteered improved/optional versions. It was just not a surprise because we never expected them in the first place.

Bharat NCAP on the other hand has let manufacturers announce publicly how many/which models have been volunteered. So there is a sense of curiosity.

It is no different from GNCAP who have tested the last batch of Indian cars in the middle of last year and more later but are still waiting for their NCAP24 event in late April to publish them. But since they have made a great effort to conceal the fact that there are pending results no one is complaining.

BNCAP should send invites to Indian manufacturers for all models, and they should make public the manufacturers who fail to respond or refuse. Such a reaction is akin to the maker knowing their car will perform poorly at the tests.

Why play games when you can simply make it mandatory for a new/facelift model to undergo crash test to be able to go on sale?

It would simply be too expensive. Homologation is already a problem and nowhere in the world are consumer tests also mandatory.

I think an interesting model for BNCAP to follow is to choose a bunch of hot-selling models in every segment (that OEMs haven’t offered) and ask the public to vote for which one to test. That is what Korea NCAP has been doing for a few years now (they just announced the 2024 poll results a few weeks ago). Of course there would be problems, for example making sure the voting is independent of the industry, but surely something can be done.

A manufacturer not offering a model does not necessarily mean it is a bad performer. Testing itself is an investment OEMs make if they feel the PR boost will pay off. But there are still some who have shied away despite having models later revealed to be good performing eg. previous Honda City or Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Recently there was a thread on why the S-Class has never been tested by Euro NCAP. Thankfully it is becoming hygiene for more manufacturers and I am sure it is more so now that it does not involve shipping cars and sending engineers halfway across the globe.

The problem is that India is a unique case where the crash regulations (2019) came much after unofficial consumer testing started (Safer Cars for India) so consumers often think NCAP is the only crash test a car goes through. All over the world consumer tests are supposed to compare popular existing models and are independent of homologation. The regulations are there to make sure that even a car not tested by the local NCAP is designed keeping some degree of crashworthiness in mind, even if it is not competitive or exceptional. There is no NCAP or other consumer tester in the world who has tested all models on sale in their market.

That said I do think leaving the decision of selecting models to the industry is counterintuitive for a consumer programme. Some of the most highly demanded ratings may be for models that manufacturers may not volunteer. At the end this is supposed to be a tool for consumers, not the industry. But mandating a consumer test is not the solution. Having labelling might be a good idea (a compulsory window sticker with the star rating (or ‘Not tested’) and a comprehensive safety feature list and maybe even fuel efficiency and other specs and test results)

I completely subscribe to your views and understand it cannot be mandated completely due to the challenges you highlighted. My response is to be seen in the context of the post I quoted. Why put the blame on manufacturer(s) when the program is completely voluntary?

In the BNCAP, there is a provision whereby govt can force the agency to pick particular models to test. There has to be a head start from somewhere, if not the manufacturer, then the govt at least.

Some manufacturers might step in and give their cars for testing not necessarily for PR, but to side with the govt to give a view that the program is a success.

Still I believe, for the program to genuinely succeed and be true to its purpose, some things need to be made compulsary - say for ex: at least 10% of one's portfolio needs to be BNCAP tested at any point in time.

If you leave obvious loopholes, they WILL be exploited.

And in fact even in the final AIS197 there are mentions of the government being able to select cars. So someone needs to trace the course of the media claims that the project is completely voluntary. There is a subtle difference between voluntary and optional (a car is tested only if the OEM requests it vs a car may or may not be tested).

I think one way to start would be to require a BNCAP rating for induction into government fleets. That itself will force many popular models that urgently need testing to be either volunteered for testing, improved or discontinued.

Another way is for fleet/rideshare operators like Ola and Uber to start requiring a certain star rating for induction, like in Australia.

Looking at how the BNCAP test for Hyundai Exter was hyped back in 2023 and the ongoing months of radio-silence about the results, can't help but wonder if the cars have fared poorly and hence manufacturers are no longer keen on the results.

BNCAP is again on its education trip. Is it a build up to the next round of tests?

Loses the momentum/hype as tests/results are 'so much' delayed!

Almost reached month end, and indeed looks like BNCAP is nothing but a joke.
If you keep such tests voluntary, why companies will bother to test their product.
Anyway people are happily buying existing non tested models, why create confusion in their minds :D

In my personal opinion BNCAP helped to stop #safercarsforindia campaign (as GNCAP stopped testing Indian cars) and gave control back to Indian mass manufacturers to sell cars on their terms.

Where are the Bharat NCAP test results for the popular and best selling vehicles from Maruti, Hyundai, Kia etc?
Other than the Tata Safari and Harrier results, I have not heard any news regarding any other vehicle.
Why is it taking an eternity to publish the results?

Now that the BNCAP is already there in place since last year, it should have taken only a few weeks to test and publish the results of the market leader's best selling cars. The companies are already here, the cars are there..Then why not test them and publish the results without delay?
I feel that there is more to this than meets the eye, and may be there is heavy lobbying and pressure from some companies to go slow on these results for obvious reasons.

Judging by the turn of events until now, this whole attempt of setting up the BNCAP is turning out to be a futile attempt, atleast as of now.
I was expecting the crash test results of most of the mass-market cars by the end of the first quarter of this year, but nothing came out.
I don't understand the reason for this delay.
Or am I missing something here?

Instead of falling for the pressure tactics and lobbying by the car companies to make this a voluntary exercise, the government should have made this mandatory in the first place, and fixed a deadline for all manufacturers to get their products tested and certified, failing which the product cannot be sold anymore.

But everything works a bit differently in our country. sigh..!

Most manufacturers will use the international ncap tests and proudly publish 5* ratings that they get.

A manufacturer who habitually claims that Indian roads have very low speed traffic so neither NCAP nor airbags etc are necessary and continues to produce tin cans, will not even bother to test them against the diluted but “far better for the country because it is made in Bharat” new standard.

Much was said about the new facelifted Baleno's "strong" build quality by Maruti spokespersons, and the Auto journos during its launch.
It was said that Maruti has made it tough enough, so as to get nothing less than a 5 star rating.
Same was said during the new Brezza's launch as well.
If this was indeed true, why they are shying away from sending atleast one of these vehicles for testing?
It is so disappointing that the market leader itself is playing hide & seek, and shying away from assessment programs.