India-Made Suzuki Baleno Scores Zero Stars in Latin NCAP Crash Test

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno is one of the most popular cars in the country by the company and rivals the Hyundai i20 and Tata Altroz in its segment. This car is manufactured at the company’s Gujarat-based plant in India. Recently, the car has appeared at the Latin NCAP car crash test and disappointingly failed to score even a single star.

The Maruti Baleno is equipped with two airbags as standard and scores a zero safety rating. It also needs to mention that the Baleno score comes after Swift’s zero stars a few months back. Both come from the company that sells the most cars in India.

While looking at the detailed scores, it received 20.03% in adult occupant protection, 17.06% in child occupant protection, and 64.06% in pedestrian and vulnerable road users box, but when it comes to safety assist features, the scores fell down to 6.98%. However, it is worth noting that the Latin NCAP amended its testing rules early this year, making them more demanding than the Global NCAP’s.

The Baleno was evaluated for frontal and side collision protection, as well as whiplash and pedestrian protection. The automobile performed well in the frontal crash test. However, the side impact test revealed excessive intrusion in the door and inadequate protection for the adult occupant’s chest.

The whiplash test revealed limited neck protection, but the primary reason for the 0 safety rating was low side impact protection and marginal whiplash protection. According to Latin NCAP, the lack of standard side body and head protection airbags, lack of standard Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and Suzuki’s choice not to propose Child Restraint Systems (CRS) were also factors in the car’s poor performance.

At the same time, the safety inspector stated that Suzuki declined to test the optional equipment to demonstrate its performance, casting doubt on the efficiency of those extra safety features.