Bharat NCAP Tests First Car That Isn’t A Tata Model

The Citroen Basalt has been crash tested by Bharat NCAP and has secured four stars. It’s also the first car outside the Tata stable to be tested by the crash safety test agency. This is an impressive achievement and will give the Basalt an upper hand, considering how important safety scores are for customers before they sign the cheque for a new car. 

The Citroen Basalt has secured four stars in both Adult Occupant (AOP) and Child Occupant Protection (COP). Its scores are 26.19/32 for AOP and 35.9/49 for COP. 

Adult Occupant Protection 

Starting with the frontal offset deformable barrier test, the Basalt offered marginal protection for the driver’s chest, while the same for the co-driver was rated as adequate. Both the front occupants received good protection for the head and neck. The pelvis of both the front occupants received marginal shielding. The right side tibias of the driver and co-driver were rated as adequate and good, respectively. However, the same for the left side tibias were rated marginal and adequate, respectively. The driver’s side foot got adequate protection, while the same for the co-driver wasn’t rated. 

In the side movable deformable barrier and side pole impact test, the Basalt did well and offered good protection to the head, chest, abdomen and pelvis. 

Child Occupant Protection 

Bharat NCAP hasn’t provided a detailed report of the Basalt’s COP test and as a result, we haven’t explained about it in this story. That said, Bharat NCAP has shared scores on the criterias and we have mentioned about it in this table below:

Safety Features Onboard 

The Citroen Basalt gets all the necessary safety features such as six airbags (limited to top two variants), ABS with EBD, electronic stability control, rear parking sensors with camera, hill start assist and a tyre pressure monitoring system. 

Price And Rivals 

The Basalt’s scores surely gives it an added advantage. It's the only one after its two compact SUV rivals – Skoda Kushaq and VW Taigun (both tested by Global NCAP and got five stars) – to come close. When pitched against its price equal subcompact SUV rivals, the Basalt once again has fared well, considering that the Tata Nexon and pre-facelift versions of the Mahindra XUV 3XO and Maruti Brezza have also received strong safety ratings. 

The Citroen Basalt is priced from Rs 7.99 lakh (ex-showroom) and its pricing puts it in contention with subcompact SUVs such as the Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV 3XO, Maruti Brezza, Kia Sonet and Hyundai Venue. It will also be interesting to see how the Basalt’s direct rival, the Tata Curvv will fare, considering that Tata has been passing the tests with flying colours.