KOLKATA: Maruti Suzuki‘s Dzire, India’s largest-selling compact sedan, was awarded a 5-star rating in the indigenous Bharat New Car Assessment Program (Bharat NCAP). The hatchback Baleno scored a 4-star rating.Mid-size sedans Skoda Slavia and Volkswagen Virtus also have 5-star crash test ratings from Global NCAP.The move bolsters Maruti Suzuki’s drive to improve the safety perception of its vehicles and complements the commitment to equip all its passenger vehicles with six airbags within a year.Currently, 10 models have six airbags as a standard feature across variants, including entry-level cars Alto K10, Celerio, and WagonR. Maruti Suzuki also offers Electronic Stability Program (ESP) as a standard feature across all variants and models.Speaking on the Bharat NCAP results, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said it was a matter of pride that Made-in-India high-volume mainstream cars achieved exemplary safety ratings. “This (Bharat NCAP) program incorporates rigorous and comprehensive testing and evaluation standards that are comparable with global safety protocols. It is aimed at raising safety awareness among customers in the country,” he said.The minister also congratulated the company for its fast-paced adoption of six airbags as standard across all variants of models covering all segments and hoped it would encourage other manufacturers to make six airbags a standard feature across all variants of their models.Maruti Suzuki MD & CEO Hisashi Takeuchi said all 18 models were already equipped with ESP and that they would all have six airbags as standard across variants within a year.
