Nobody Wins When Global NCAP Decides To Crash Test The Ertiga, Wagon R, Santro And redi-GO

• The Ertiga scored 3 stars but its body shell and footwell was rated unstable.
• Both Wagon R and Santro showed poor child safety protection, and managed 2 stars for both adult and child occupant safety.
• Sub par driver’s chest protection led to a one-star rating for Datsun redi-GO.

The latest round of Global NCAP crash test results is out and we know where the Maruti Suzuki Wagon R and Ertiga as well as the Hyundai Santro and Datsun redi-GO stand with respect to crashworthiness. Here’s a clue: nowhere good. Going through the results reveals that none of the mentioned cars scored more than 3 stars in the Global NCAP’s #safercarsforIndia campaign. The worst offender here is the redi-GO, with a single-star rating for adult occupant safety. This comes as a far cry from the last round of results, where the Tata Nexon scored 5 out of 5, while the  Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Mahindra Marazzo came away with 4 stars. Anyway, back to the details from the latest crash test results:

Maruti Suzuki Ertiga

The Ertiga equipped with two airbags scored three stars for both adult and child occupants. However, the biggest blow came in the form of poor bodyshell integrity, which was proven to be unstable and incapable of withstanding load. The front passengers could also suffer from the dashboard structures while the upper body and chest position showed commendable and marginal protection. Global NCAP also found Ertiga’s footwell to be unstable. It was also reported that the passenger side seat belt pretensioner was not working during the test. The child seat for a 3-year old and the Child Restraint System (CRS) for the 18-month old were installed forward facing although Global NCAP found out that the protection offered for the former was fair.

Maruti Suzuki Wagon R

The Wagon R with driver side airbag scored two stars for both adult and child occupant safety. The Wagon R’s body shell and footwell were rated unstable. Front passenger’s chest showed weak protection while the knees showed minimal protection. Upper body protection, though, was rated good. Coming to child safety, the 3-year old Child Restraint System (CRS), fastened with adult seatbelt (no ISOFIX connectors), was unable to prevent excessive movement and failed during the test. Protection offered for the 18-month old dummy was also below par. 

Hyundai Santro

The single airbag-equipped Santro also scored 2 stars and showed good upper body protection for the front occupants. But the footwell area and body shell were rated below par while the driver and passenger chest protection was also mediocre. According to the results, Hyundai declined to recommend a Child Restraint Systems (CRS), thus losing dynamic points. The CRS which was installed showed poor protection for the 3-year old dummy. The 18-month old CRS, on the other hand, offered good protection. Also note that there were no ISOFIX anchorages in the Santro. 

Datsun redi-GO

The Datsun redi-GO which comes with only a driver airbag scored one star for adult protection and two stars for child protection. Body shell, dashboard support and the footwell area were rated unstable. Adult upper body protection was found to be good but it was poor protection of the driver’s chest that resulted in one star. Driver and passenger knee showed adequate and marginal protection. Forward-mounted child seat was prone to excessive movements offering poor protection for head and chest of the 3-year old dummy whereas the 18-month old Child Restraint System (CRS) offered fair protection.