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Mahindra Bolero Neo scores 1-star in Global NCAP rating, Honda Amaze and Kia Carens also underperform
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
The Global NCAP Secretary-General, Alejandro Furas, expressed his disappointment, stating, “We were disappointed to see Mahindra’s one-star rating for the Bolero Neo. This falls well below the safety performance we have come to expect from the manufacturer.”
Homegrown automaker Mahindra’s 7-seater sports utility vehicle (SUV) Bolero Neo, in the latest safety assessments conducted by Global NCAP as part of the #SaferCarsForIndia campaign, scored a disappointing one star for both adult and child occupant safety.
Alejandro Furas, Secretary-General at Global NCAP, in a statement, said, “We were disappointed to see Mahindra’s one-star rating for the Bolero Neo. This falls well below the safety performance we have come to expect from the manufacturer.”
The Bolero Neo’s low protection in the frontal crash, unstable structure, and weak chest protection for the driver were among the factors contributing to its low score. The vehicle’s child occupant protection was also affected by the lack of 3-point belts in all seating positions and the decision to only allow one CRS to be installed in the car.
The Honda Amaze scored two stars for adult safety and zero for child safety. The Kia Carens, which was tested under the previous Global NCAP protocols, after improvements and a retest, managed to achieve three stars for adult safety and five for child safety.
The Honda Amaze, also equipped with two standard airbags, was rated two stars for adult safety and zero stars for child occupant safety. Furas remarked, “Regrettably Honda did not take the opportunity to update the Amaze with more safety features which explains its disappointing score.”
The Amaze’s adult protection scored low due to the lack of optional side head protection, driver-only Seat Belt Reminder and standard ESC. The child protection showed head contact in the frontal impact for both dummies, high loadings in the chest and neck of the three-year-old child and ejection risk in the 1.5-year-old dummies.
Interestingly, in 2019, the Honda Amaze, a model made in India and sold in South Africa, secured a 4-star rating for adult safety and a 1-star rating for child safety. Recently, Honda updated its entire line-up in India, adding safety features like seat belt reminders for all seats.
Honda Cars India, in an official statement, claimed that the safety rating might have differed if the updated model had been tested. “The South Africa spec 2nd Generation Amaze has already been tested as 4 star by GNCAP in 2019. The latest test basis new protocol shows that the total score is of 5 star level. However mainly due to requirement of certain equipment like Electronic Stability Control and Side Curtain Airbags, it resulted in lower rating,” it added.
The company added, “At Honda, our commitment to safety is evident in the meticulous engineering of our products. We integrate advanced active and passive safety technologies across our entire model range. We are dedicated to continuously work to enhance our vehicles on all parameters of Safety and improve them further at model change timing.”
Lastly, the Kia Carens, fitted with six standard airbags, initially scored zero stars for adult protection. However, after improvements from the manufacturer and a retest, it achieved three stars in adult safety and five stars for child occupants.
Despite the improvements, Furas noted, “However, we were expecting a better performance in the retest given the Carens is fitted with six airbags as standard.” Under the previous Global NCAP protocols, the Carens received three stars for adult and child occupant protection.
David Ward, President of Towards Zero Foundation, said, “This mixed set of results demonstrates that more effort is still needed from some manufacturers to prioritise vehicle safety in the Indian market.”
Ward emphasized the importance of maintaining safety momentum and announced that key vehicle safety matters for India would be discussed during an NCAP24 panel session later in the day.
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