Made-in-India Maruti Suzuki Baleno scores zero in Latin NCAP crash test, Toyota Yaris gets one star

The two cars showed deplorable protection measures for drivers and passengers, according to Latin NCAP new car assessment

In a blow to India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki, top selling model Baleno has failed the crash test of the New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (NCAP) by delivering a disappointing zero-star performance, while Toyota’s Yaris received a poor one-star rating.

The made-in-India Maruti Suzuki Baleno, which has two airbags, received zero stars due to poor side impact protection, a lack of standard side head protection airbags and the decision of the carmaker of doing away with the Child Restraint Systems (CRS).

This comes two months after another popular model Swift received zero rating in a test conducted by Latin NCAP.

The popular compact car achieved 20.03 per cent in Adult Occupant box, 17.06 per cent in Child Occupant box, 64.06 per cent in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users box and 6.98 per cent in Safety Assist box.

Stephan Brodziak, Latin NCAP Chairman, called on both companies to aggressively address the risks and be committed to consumers’ safety. “It is unfortunate to have another zero stars car from Suzuki, in this case the Baleno model, which in some countries is marketed as "Good, Nice, Baleno", to which we should add "Low safety",” he said.

The Yaris model does not offer any side body or side head protection airbags, according to the assessment. The car also gave an appalling frontal impact test with unstable structure and footwell area performance. A door of the car even opened during the test.

Crash test of Toyota Yaris. Credit: Latin NCAP

The B-segment model achieved 41.43 per cent in Adult Occupant box, 63.85 per cent in Child Occupant box, 61.63 per cent in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users box and 41.86 per cent in Safety Assist box.

Both the cars were subjected to frontal and side impact tests, whiplash and pedestrian protection reviews.

This comes as Maruti Suzuki in its Q2 results on Wednesday showed weak sales numbers, being a leader in an industry hardest-hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Total vehicle sales were down 3 per cent at 3,79,541 units in the second quarter, as against 3,93,130 units in the corresponding period last fiscal. Domestic sales were at 3,20,133 units, compared to 3,70,619 units earlier.

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