A minimum national standard for vehicle occupant protection is being proposed for India. This follows the recent negative publicity for Nissan after footage of a Datsun Go being crashed went viral.
Global NCAP smashed several Indian-made cars and the Go was among those which did not do well. The organisation awarded the little car zero stars.
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Critics have drawn attention to the fact that Global NCAP could be trying to boost its income by jockeying for position as proposed adviser to the federal government in New Delhi. The company has urged Nissan to remove the Go from sale and redesign it.
The Japanese company defended itself by noting that such small cars provide a far superior level of safety than the two-wheelers which many people are trading up from. Further, adding the level of safety equipment that cars in the US, Europe and elsewhere have (ABS, ESP, multiple airbags etc…) would mean lifting prices substantially.
Nissan is by no means the only firm to have been singled out for the wrath of Global NCAP. Other cars awarded zero stars were the Ford Figo, Maruti Suzuki Alto, Hyundai i10 and Tata Nano. Interestingly, Volkswagen India has now made dual airbags standard on its locally built Polo and been rewarded with a four-star rating. The Polo was initially rated with zero stars.
Now, according to an Autocar India report, plans for a national crash test standard have been revealed. This, the proposed Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme (BNVSAP), is modeled on the New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) and is to be implemented in stages between 2015 and 2020.
