Hyundai Verna sedan has become the latest made-in-India car to bag a 5-star Global NCAP rating for adult and child occupant safety.
The voluntary test is one of the final results in the #SaferCarsForIndia campaign ahead of Bharat NCAP’s activation later this year. The Global NCAP’s crash test protocols assessed the frontal and side impact protection for all models, as well as Electronic Stability Control (ESC). Pedestrian protection and side impact pole protection assessments are required for vehicles scoring the highest star ratings.
The Hyundai Verna was assessed in its most basic passive safety specification with 6 airbags and ESC as standard. The model achieved a five-star rating for adult and child occupants although the structure was unstable. After the side impact test, a Child Restraint System (CRS) failure was noted. The CRS manufacturer identified this as a one-off. In order to verify the claim, Global NCAP says it performed a subsequent higher energy side impact test. The CRS showed no further sign of failure.
Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Global NCAP said, “Global NCAP welcomes Hyundai to the five star club in the Indian market. This relevant result confirms the manufacturer’s policy of improving safety performance in emerging markets. The effort to bring these improvements from the basic version is a remarkable step forward. We encourage Hyundai to continue in this line and bring the highest safety performance to the most affordable models and improve the availability of ADAS technologies in its entire model range worldwide.”
David Ward, President of the Towards Zero Foundation said, “As the #SaferCarsForIndia campaign reaches its conclusion it is very satisfying to see the trend for five-star safety performance continue with the Hyundai Verna. Maintaining this safety momentum is an important step for the auto industry in India. It will be interesting to see how the remaining #SaferCarsForIndia models perform in our crash testing before Bharat NCAP begins its own testing later in the year.”
