Bharat NCAP must take into account Indian conditions, say Maruti Suzuki executives

Representative image

With the central government set to introduce its new Bharat New Vehicle Assessment Programme, or Bharat NCAP, India’s carmakers are bracing for yet another challenge.

With six airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), pedestrian safety and a three-point safety harness for all seats set to become mandatory under Bharat NCAP, car makers are looking at yet another price hike in the near future.

Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car maker, is among the many companies to welcome the move, having made several overtures towards it.

“Maruti Suzuki attaches a very high priority to safety. That’s why if you look at our models, we not only meet requirements, we exceed them” says Shashank Shrivastava, Senior Executive Director of Marketing & Sales.

The remark rings particularly true in the case of the newly launched Brezza, which, according to Maruti Suzuki, has over 20 active and passive safety features as optional extras.

The Brezza is also the only model manufactured by the company to have received a four-star safety rating by Global NCAP. For its part, Maruti Suzuki isn’t out to bag Global NCAP’s increasingly sought-after seal of approval.

“When it comes to GNCAP ratings, they are determined using a criteria set by a private body. We are not sure how relevant they are for Indian conditions.” says Shrivastava, “we must have safety standards relevant for our Indian driving conditions” he adds.

Six-airbag rule 

With Bharat NCAP set to take effect by the end of the first quarter of 2023, it looks like that day isn’t far away. However, some aspects of Bharat NCAP don’t appear to sit well with the car maker. In recent times, Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava has stated that the government should reconsider its mandatory six airbag rule, primarily because the increase in price could deter potential first-time car buyers from buying an entry-level car – a highly price-conscious segment.

“I think, if you look at it from an overall perspective, six airbags aren’t mandated anywhere in the world,” says CV Raman, Maruti Suzuki’s Chief Technology Officer. “As an industry, as the Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), we have been saying that there has to be a mechanism to inform customers about safety ratings” he adds, suggesting that Bharat NCAP, like Global NCAP not be designed as a regulatory measure but one that’s used to better inform the customer of the levels of safety provided by car manufacturers.

“I think it’s a great step by the government and we welcome that,” Raman said.

Yet, despite such near-unanimous approval of Bharat NCAP, the fact remains that it will add to car prices, affecting the entry-level car market the most.

“Obviously, entry-level is a very important aspect for India from a motorisation perspective. We’re still at a very low 30 vehicles per 1,000 and compared to so many other countries which are at a much higher level. So that obviously reflects that the motorisation level is low. And graduating from two-wheelers is an important step from a motorisation perspective. I think that we have to also look at that consideration. Of being able to offer that to the customer. And it’s a fair thing to say that, that also should be looked at. And those deliberations will happen with the government.” says Raman.

Testing parameters 

“We’ve worked on BNVSAP earlier, and later on all those points became regulations. And now again, for the past one year, we’ve been discussing reviving those points and making them Bharat NCAP,” says Raman, inadvertently flexing the juggernaut carmaker’s policy influencing muscle.

BNVSAP is short for Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Programme. 

Regardless of Maruti Suzuki’s take on GlobalNCAP’s testing procedures, the recently approved draft policy for BharatNCAP is heavily based on GlobalNCAP’s own independent testing parameters.

This includes increasing the crash test speed to 64kph from the previous 56kph, something that can have lead to a critical verdict of a car’s structural safety, among other things. And if Global NCAP’s findings are to be taken into account, structural integrity is something of an Achilles Heel for Maruti Suzuki. With the exception of the Brezza, none of the Maruti Suzuki cars tested by Global NCAP have received a “stable” verdict for bodyshell integrity. Bestsellers like the Suzuki Swift, WagonR and Ertiga, when tested over 2018 and 2019, all received an “unstable” rating.

“What does unstable mean?” asks Shrivastava. “There is no body panel that is unstable. It has to meet local crash regulations, and it has,'' he adds.

Raman presents a similar and equally emphatic defence of the brand’s adherence to stable structures. “Let’s get our perspective right on one thing. All structures are safe. Structural checks are happening at BNVSAP level” he says, adding that “Global NCAP’s claim is to make cars safer. That doesn’t imply that cars aren’t safe.”

Not about the product alone 

But the fine print seems to imply, and justifiably so, that the onus of providing safe transport doesn’t lie with an automotive manufacturer alone.

“At Maruti Suzuki, we believe that it’s not just about the product. It’s also about the attitude and behaviour of the driver. We’ve tried to help by having Maruti Driving Schools. We have 500 of those schools where we are teaching drivers to drive safely. And offering products which exceed regulatory requirements,” says Shrivastava, adding that Bharat NCAP should ideally be set around India’s driving conditions.

“That’s what governments do. They regulate as per the specific requirements of their country” he says.

Raman concurs. “Whether it is American or European regulation, they put a lot of emphasis on what is actually happening on the roads and then they check the nature of the accidents, the way the roads are engineered, the multiple modes of transport which are there on the road. And Maruti Suzuki is willing to cooperate because we carry out a lot of these studies. We have an independent agency which does accident analysis.”

Following the regulations 

Are carmakers unnecessarily made to bear the burden of road safety?

“My personal take is, if you are in the car making space, you have to follow the regulations” says Shrivastava, acknowledging that behavioural aspects, along with environmental ones, should also be taken into account when fingers are being pointed.

Both Shrivastava and Raman are unequivocally clear on one thing: any programme or institution that helps inform the customer about the quality or safety of an automobile is welcome. Whether or not it is a mandatory form of certification is a different matter.

“These are customer-centric ratings, that’s where the difference is from a regulation POV. It’s like rating an electronic appliance like an air-conditioner or a refrigerator. A customer-centric thing, not a mandatory one. That’s exactly what BharatNCAP and GlobalNCAP are trying to do and that’s fine”.

Maruti Suzuki admits that the customer is more aware of safety than ever before, as evidenced by the presence of a variety of electronic aids and features in its recent launches.

Choice lies with the customer 

The bottom line is that these features have been offered (as optional ones) because customers are looking for them, and therefore willing to pay for them. And the choice should ultimately lie with the customer. The same applies to the entry-level car buyer as well.

“First time car-buyers occupy 48-50% of the car market,” says Shrivastava, once again bringing the spotlight on the plight of the entry-level car buyer without outrightly stating that features like six-airbags, ESC etc and a certain crash safety certification should not be made mandatory.

So just what kind of impact can BNCAP have on entry-level cars in terms of pricing?

“We have to study the BNCAP regulations. The draft regulations have just come in and are fairly voluminous so we are looking at that in detail and we will be able to tell you very shortly where we stand,” he said.