The Indian car industry is slowly but gradually warming up to the importance of safety in vehicles. Even prospective buyers have started to consider the safety rating of a car before making a purchase decision. In the recent bout of crash tests conducted by Global NCAP for Indian cars, Honda Amaze has scored an underwhelming 2-star safety rating.
The sub-4 metre sedan has received a two-star rating in adult occupant protection and a zero-star rating for child occupant protection. Amaze, along with Bolero Neo and Carens, are probably the last batch of cars to be tested by Global NCAP before the Safer Cars for India campaign moves to the Bharat NCAP safety assessment programme.
Honda Amaze Global NCAP crash test details
The India-spec Amaze was tested under the previous Global NCAP protocols and scored four stars for adult and one star for child occupant protection back in 2019. When re-evaluated under the more stringent regulations of Global NCAP, results for the compact sedan deteriorated.
Speaking on the same, Alejandro Furas, Global NCAP Secretary General said, “Regrettably Honda did not take the opportunity to update the Amaze with more safety features which explains its disappointing score.”
The latest crash test result by Global NCAP has elicited an official response from Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL). It says, “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.
At Honda, our unwavering commitment to safety is evident in the meticulous engineering of our products, integrating 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.”
Amaze scored a total of 27.85 points out of 34 in adult protection and merely 8.58 points out of 49 in child protection. The adult occupant protection score of Amaze went down due to the lack of optional side head protection, absence of standard Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as well as driver only seat belt reminder.
Child occupancy suffered due to the lack of three point seat belts in all seating positions and passenger airbags disconnection switch. Further, failure of some CRSs in installation resulted in the zero stars for child occupant protection.
Honda Amaze new-gen model
However, these results aren’t likely to stress out Honda as the current-gen Amaze breathes its last. Last month, it was reported that the Japanese carmaker is working on a new-gen Amaze which will be underpinned by the same platform underpinning the fifth-gen City. With this architecture underneath, the new-gen Amaze is expected to score much higher in both adult and child safety rating.
For reference, City had scored an impressive 4-star safety rating for both adult and child occupancies in the Global NCAP crash test in 2022.
