The first round of crash testing of the cars in India under Bharat NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) has been successfully completed. While official details are yet to be revealed, BNCAP is expected to release the crash test results later this month. Due to the festive season, the commencement of the crash tests was delayed from October 15 to December 15.
Major OEMs including Maruti Suzuki India, Tata Motors, Hyundai and Kia India have participated in the first round of testing. Announced on August 22, Bharat NCAP is a voluntary programme and the crash tests are applicable to the M1 category of vehicles with a gross weight of less than or equal to 3,500kg. The M1 category has passenger vehicles that can accommodate up to 8 passengers & 1 driver.
Bharat NCAP will test the base variant of the model. The vehicles will be tested across three critical categories including adult occupant protection, child occupant protection and safety assist technologies. The vehicles will go three multiple crash tests such as an offset deformable barrier frontal impact test at 64kmph, a side impact test at 50kmph, and a pole side impact test at 29kmph. The vehicle will be awarded a rating of zero to five stars, representing the product’s safety performance.
This is a voluntary programme and OEM will take care of the cost of the car assessment for start rating. The cost for testing a car under BNCAP would be around Rs 60 lakh against Rs 2.50 crore required for testing by any international agency.
Few days back, the Bharat NCAP website reveal crash test images of the Kia Sonet and Tata Punch. These images confirmed that the Sonet and Punch underwent crash tests by BNCAP. It is also reported that the Tata Harrier is the first make-in-India passenger car to undergo Bharat NCAP crash tests.
