Kia Carens scores 5 stars for child safety, Honda Amaze gets zero stars

April 24, 2024 / 11:10 AM IST

The 2024 Kia Carens received a 3-star rating for adult safety and 5 stars for child safety

Nearly six months after awarding 5-star ratings to Tata Safari and Harrier SUVs, the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) has awarded three, two, and one star ratings to Kia Carens, Honda Amaze, and Mahindra Bolero, respectively.

This assessment marks one of the final evaluations under Global NCAP's Safer Cars for India initiative as the country transitions to its own Bharat NCAP safety evaluation program.

The 2024 Kia Carens received a 3-star rating for adult safety and 5 stars for child safety. GNAP revealed that the overall build quality of the newer version has been improved by enhancing neck performance and restraint systems, according to GNAP.

The Kia India Spokesperson did not respond to emails until the time of publishing this story.

While disclosing the test results, Alejandro Furas, Global NCAP Secretary-General, said, "There has been an improvement in Kia's rating for the Carens since our original test when the model scored a zero rating for adult occupant protection. However, we were expecting a better performance in the retest given the Carens is fitted with six airbags as standard."

The Honda Amaze, which previously secured a four-star rating for adult occupant protection and one star for child occupant protection during its 2019 assessment, saw a drop in its ratings under more stringent testing standards. The sedan's rating dropped to two stars for adult protection and plummeted to zero stars for child safety.

"Regrettably, Honda did not take the opportunity to update the Amaze with more safety features which explains its disappointing score," added Furas.

Honda Cars India Ltd. (HCIL), in an emailed response, stated that the South Africa-spec 2nd Generation Amaze had already been tested as 4 stars by GNCAP in 2019.

"The latest test, based on new protocol, shows that the total score is of a 5-star level with a stable body shell. However, mainly due to the requirement of certain equipment like Electronic Stability Control and Side Curtain Airbags, it resulted in a lower rating," HCIL said in an emailed statement, adding, "We are dedicated to continuously working to enhance our vehicles on all parameters of Safety and improve them further at model change timing."

The Mahindra Bolero Neo, a sub 4m SUV widely acclaimed for its versatility and robustness, garnered a 1-star safety rating for both adult and child safety. The model was tested and showed low protection for adult protection in the frontal crash with an unstable structure, unstable footwell area, weak chest protection for the driver, and poor feet protection, according to GNCAP.

"We at Mahindra are committed to delivering vehicles that ensure the safety and satisfaction of our customers and users. The Bolero Neo is the trusted utility vehicle of choice in India, owing to its robust build, highly dependable nature, and its innate capability to handle a variety of usage conditions. It has always complied with safety regulations that have been introduced over time and continues to be fully compliant with the latest Indian safety standards," M&M said in an emailed reply to queries sent by Moneycontrol.

According to David Ward, President of the Towards Zero Foundation, this mixed set of results demonstrates that more effort is still needed from some manufacturers to prioritize vehicle safety in the Indian market.

"We have seen a great deal of improvement throughout our #SaferCarsforIndia campaign, but it's clear that maintaining this safety momentum is crucially important. We will be discussing this and other key vehicle safety matters for India during an NCAP24 panel session later today."

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