Zero Stars: Watch These Indian-Market Cars Prove What Death Traps They Are

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Three versions of a Renault hatchback spectacularly failed their frontal crash tests in India, earning them zero out of five stars, even with an available airbag.

It’s food for thought for the 125,000 Indian buyers who placed orders for the subcompact coffin, but the Renault Kwid isn’t alone in flunking Global NCAP testing in that car-hungry country.

The Maruti Suzuki Celerio, Maruti Suzuki Eeco, Mahindra Scorpio and Hyundai Eon also failed to earn a single star, reports Business Standard.

Airbags aside, the main problem with these cheap vehicles is their lack of a rigid bodyshell. Without that protection, there’s little to stop a vehicle from crumpling all the way to the backseat. Global NCAP said the vehicle bodies were unstable, adding that the driver of each vehicle would suffer life-threatening injuries in a similar crash.

The Indian frontal tests were performed at 40 miles per hour. Imagine a head-on collision between two of these vehicles.

In response to its vehicle pooping the safety bed, Renault India stated it was “committed” to complying with the country’s looming 2017 crash test regulations for new vehicles.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • "scarey" "scarey" on May 18, 2016

    The fact is that the only legitimate function of the government is to PROTECT its citizens from those who practice or threaten violence, theft, fraud, and abuse by other people, and protect its citizens from attack from other countries. Every other activity of the government is unconstitutional, and therefore illegal, no matter what congress, the president, and (increasingly) black-robed perverts on the federal courts deign to decree. Our country will be brought back to reality soon, whether by global or civil war, or by financial collapse. Ever wonder why there was no "gay rights movement" in the 30s or 40s ? It was because people were busy surviving- first, the Great Depression, and then World War II. To quote Bob Dylan, "It's a hard rain gonna fall." .

    • See 5 previous
    • Golden2husky Golden2husky on May 18, 2016

      ...To quote Bob Dylan, “It’s a hard rain gonna fall.” ... And he also said "The Executioner's face is always well hidden"...

  • Zipper69 Zipper69 on May 18, 2016

    Where were we ? Oh, yeah...cars, right.... Anywhoo...I believe these tests are run with empty gas tanks and engines turned off. If that is the case one can only wince at the fiery death awaiting any unfortunate survivor inside these deathtraps. Watching the A pillars pushing the roofline back and up was not a pleasant experience...

  • Cprescott People do silly things to their cars.
  • Jeff This is a step in the right direction with the Murano gaining a 9 speed automatic. Nissan could go a little further and offer a compact pickup and offer hybrids. VoGhost--Nissan has  laid out a new plan to electrify 16 of the 30 vehicles it produces by 2026, with the rest using internal combustion instead. For those of us in North America, the company says it plans to release seven new vehicles in the US and Canada, although it’s not clear how many of those will be some type of EV.Nissan says the US is getting “e-POWER and plug-in hybrid models” — each of those uses a mix of electricity and fuel for power. At the moment, the only all-electric EVs Nissan is producing are the  Ariya SUV and the  perhaps endangered (or  maybe not) Leaf.In 2021, Nissan said it would  make 23 electrified vehicles by 2030, and that 15 of those would be fully electric, rather than some form of hybrid vehicle. It’s hard to say if any of this is a step forward from that plan, because yes, 16 is bigger than 15, but Nissan doesn’t explicitly say how many of those 16 are all-battery, or indeed if any of them are.  https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/25/24111963/nissan-ev-plan-2026-solid-state-batteries
  • Jkross22 Sure, but it depends on the price. All EVs cost too much and I'm talking about all costs. Depreciation, lack of public/available/reliable charging, concerns about repairability (H/K). Look at the battering the Mercedes and Ford EV's are taking on depreciation. As another site mentioned in the last few days, cars aren't supposed to depreciate by 40-50% in a year or 2.
  • Jkross22 Ford already has an affordable EV. 2 year old Mach-E's are extraordinarily affordable.
  • Lou_BC How does the lower case "armada" differ from the upper case "Armada"?
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