Cars that failed crash test-Mahindra Scorpio, Maruti Eeco

The Mahindra Scorpio and Maruti Eeco are two of the five Indian models to be crash tested by Global NCAP recently. The results have been released today and all the cars failed the tests with 0-star rating in adult occupant safety category.

Despite being the most expensive car of the batch that was tested, the Scorpio failed spectacularly in the 64 kmph frontal offset test. The roof which is a critical element for a vehicle’s rigidity suffered severe damage. Global NCAP has classified the Scorpio’s shell integrity as ‘unstable’.

The Scorpio scored 16.73 points out of 49 under the child occupant safety category. Global NCAP has tested the low-end variant which doesn’t have airbags but we don’t see how the safety equipment would have improved Scorpio’s scores.

The Maruti Eeco was also awarded 0-star rating in adult occupant safety as the impact gets transferred into the cabin to a great extent. The MPV received 2-star rating for child occupant safety with a score of 24.20 out of 49.

The latest Global NCAP crash tests of Indian cars clearly prove that vehicular safety still non-existent in most of the mass market products. Unless automakers take their own initiatives and make their vehicles safer rather than claiming that their vehicles meet the existing safety standards in the country, it will be difficult to stop India from topping the global chart when it comes to deaths due to road accidents every year.

And as customers, apart from the quintessential “kitna deti hai?”, we should also some challenging questions about the safety credentials of the vehicles that are sold in India so that the OEMs are forced to factor in safety while developing a new product.

This article first appeared on Rushlane.com