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

More by Steph Willems

Comments
Join the conversation
8 of 106 comments
  • "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...

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
Next