We have largest portfolio of cars with 6 airbags, but safety does not only mean more airbags, says Maruti

The Dzire was the first Maruti car to score a 5-star safety rating at Bharat NCAP.

At a time when companies are trying to make cars safer by adding new features, Maruti Suzuki India, which currently has the largest portfolio of passenger vehicles (PVs) with six airbags as standard, believes that safety is not only about adding more airbags.

Maruti currently sells 16 PVs in India, with 14 having six airbags as standard across 140 variants. These 14 models together contribute over 97% to the domestic volumes of the company. For reference, 16 PVs do not include the new Victoris mid-size SUV as its sales have not yet started in India.

Maruti sells its cars via Arena and Nexa channels. Among the Arena models are the Alto K10, S-Presso, Eeco, Celerio, WagonR, Swift, Dzire, Brezza and Ertiga. The Nexa models include the Ignis, Baleno, Fronx, Jimny, Grand Vitara, XL6 and Invicto.

Other than the S-Presso and the Ignis, all Maruti cars have six airbags in all their variants now, from the entry-level to the top-of-the-line. Even the new Victoris gets six airbags in all its variants.

In contrast, at least six airbags are standard in 11 Hyundai PVs, eight Tata PVs, and four Mahindra PVs. This includes both internal combustion engine (ICE) and electric vehicle (EV) models.

Replying to a question from Moneycontrol related to the safety aspect of Maruti cars on the sidelines of the 65th SIAM Annual Convention, the company's Senior Executive Officer for Marketing and Sales, Partho Banerjee, said: "We are the first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to provide six airbags as standard across all the variants (of 14 models). 97% of the volumes we are doing today have six airbags."

"Our endeavour is always to serve the customer. If someone is saying something on social media, we respect their views. At the same time, we feel that we need to give the best offering to the customer," he added.

Banerjee observed that Maruti could have taken a conscious call not to offer six airbags in all the variants. "But we feel that safety is paramount and it should be offered to all the customers, irrespective of whether they are buying the entry-level variant or the top variant," he said.

The new Victoris, which was revealed earlier this month, has become the second Maruti car after the Dzire to score a 5-star safety rating at Bharat NCAP. The price of the SUV will be announced on September 15.

When asked whether Maruti will be sending all its new models for safety assessment at Bharat NCAP, Banerjee said: "This is a question that our engineering team will answer. What we can do is offer the customers all the safety features. We have now introduced Level-2 ADAS in the Victoris."

However, he pointed out that adding more features increases the price of any vehicle, impacting its acquisition cost.

"At the end of the day, you also have to understand whether a customer is ready to buy the vehicle if you are offering all the features. Level-2 ADAS will cost more money," Banerjee said.

Maruti recently introduced Arena Safety Shield and Nexa Safety Shield offering multiple safety features, such as six airbags, antilock braking system (ABS) with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), hill hold assist, reverse parking assist, three-point ELR seatbelts and seatbelt reminder, ISOFIX child anchorages, and frontal offset impact safety, side impact safety and pedestrian impact safety.

"We are trying to educate the customer that safety does not only mean six airbags. The purpose of the Safety Shield campaign was to inform the customer that other safety features are equally important," Banerjee noted.