Alto, Swift, Eon, Jazz fail crash test; banned in Assam

A court in the largest car market in northeast India, Assam, has banned the launch and sale of small cars that don’t meet crash-test norms, in the state. The court verdict comes as a response to petitions to make vehicles safer.

Registrations as well as sales of car models such as Maruti Suzuki’s Alto and Swift, Hyundai Motor Company’s i10 and EON and Honda Motor Company’s Jazz have been stopped in Assam after the interim order by the Gauhati High Court. While car companies are trying to boost sales in the North-East, this move comes as a blow for them as the automotive market remained sluggish at just 7% growth in the first four months of this financial year. According to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), 12% of car sales in the country come from the North-Eastern states, led by Assam .

The petitions filed in this regard have appealed that crash tests such as the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), which are followed in Europe and developed markets, should apply to cars sold in Assam because higher safety standards are required in mountainous regions. The high court hence, has barred all manufacturers from selling cars that did not meet crash-test norms. “The Centre is directed not to permit the auto manufacturers to release and sell the small four-wheelers with a mass up to 1,500 kg and quadricycles without putting them to crash test and emission test,” the court said in the interim order.

Cars manufactured in India are currently required to meet frontal crash test norms. Last year, many vehicles failed the more stringent frontal offset crash tests conducted by global testing agency NCAP. Variants such as Maruti Alto, Hyundai i10, Ford Figo and Datsun Go failed these tests, which are standard in the developed markets and are yet to be implemented in India. However, this order doesn’t affect SUVs, which are bigger and have enough capacity to absorb impact and ensure passenger safety.

The car companies are putting up their cases individually and through SIAM. Major car companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda and Toyota have confirmed about facing issues in the market after the court order.

Source: ETAuto