The Maruti Suzuki S-Presso sold in South Africa has been tested by Global NCAP in its Safer Cars for Africa protocol. The car is made in India and exported with an identical spec as the Indian market offering. The last time the S-Presso was crashed, it received zero stars.
View PhotosThe Maruti Suzuki S-Presso crash tested by Global NCAP is made for the South African market.
The made in India Maruti Suzuki S-Presso has been crash tested by Global NCAP under its Safer Cars for Africa programme. The Suzuki S-Presso is exported from India to African markets, and is the one tested. It has scored three stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection. The Maruti Suzuki S-Presso had previously been crash tested by Global NCAP in November 2020. That was also a made-in-India car – but one that was on sale in India. At the time the car had scored zero stars for adult occupant protection and the same for child safety. The S-Presso back then adhered to then Indian legal requirements of just a driver-side airbag. The lack of basic passive safety equipment, as well as an unstable structure had led to its poor showing.
Global NCAP says it decided to test the car again (even though it is Indian made too), since it had seen reports suggesting the version sold in South Africa had stronger safety credentials than the car previously tested by them in 2020. However, we can confirm that subsequent amendments to India’s legislature for motor vehicle safety, as well as an update on the car carried out by Maruti Suzuki have resulted in changes in the S-Presso since 2020. Maruti Suzuki has confirmed to carandbike, that the version of the S-Presso sold in South Africa is identical to the one manufactured for the domestic market in India too. And hence the score applies to cars sold here as well – including its base or entry variant.
The changes made include making dual airbags standard – as well as fitting all variants with seatbelts with pretensioners and force limiters – as standard. The middle passenger seatbelt is still a lap belt, however in both specifications. carandbike has reached out to Maruti Suzuki on today’s test result, and is awaiting a revert to our communication.
In the latest test, the S-Presso’s structure was rated unstable, and injuries to the adult dummies showed a weak protection level for the driver’s chest area – marginally avoiding a two-star rating. Child occupant protection had the exact same performance as the India spec model tested previously. The continued lack of ISOFIX child seat anchorages, lack of a three point belt in the middle rear seat position, Maruti Suzuki’s decision not to recommend a Child Restraint System (CRS) led to the poor showing with the child occupant protection score. Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Global NCAP said, “The safety performance of the S-Presso in South Africa has been far from satisfactory and claims of improvement are not reflected in levels of child occupant protection which remain the same as the Indian version we tested in 2020. There has been significant progress with vehicle safety in the Indian market with a welcome requirement for the fitment of six airbags as standard. We hope that Maruti Suzuki will not apply a double standard for the vehicles they sell in Africa compared to those sold in India.”
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In fact Global NCAP is all set to update its test protocols for its India and Africa programmes. The new protocols will kick in from July 1 2020, making them more stringent and requiring more safety equipment in the assessment towards the final star rating score. David Ward, Executive President of the Towards Zero Foundation said, “As our current test protocols come to an end in Africa it is important to see manufacturers continue their commitment to high standards of vehicle safety. Some continue to do well but we remain disappointed with others. Sadly, Maruti Suzuki fall into this latter category, where the rhetoric on safety is simply not matched by the reality.”
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