Mahindra is likely to make front-facing rear seats as standard on the Thar after it recently received a 4-star safety rating from Global NCAP.
The Thar that was crash tested had 2 airbags and front-facing rear seats and received the safety rating for both adult and child occupant protection.
It did very well with regard to child safety due to having standard ISOFIX anchorages at the back and top tether. Further, the rear front-facing seats also come with 3-point seat belts.
Thus, it would only be beneficial for the brand and its customers if the Thar came with front-facing rear seats for all variants and does away with the side-facing bench seats which are offered in the base AX trim.
These bench seats only come with lap seat belts, meaning they will not provide the same safety offered by the 3-point seat belts and put occupants at greater risk in the event of a collision.
Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra, Pawan Goenka, has stated that Global NCAP is very strict about ensuring that the 4-star rating applies to all the variants of the car.
This is the reason why Global NCAP tests a vehicle in the trim which has the least number of safety equipment. Therefore, it is evident that Mahindra Thar front-facing rear seats will be made standard across all trims.
At present, Mahindra is only accepting bookings for the LX variant and not the base variant. As things stand, the off-road car is booked until May 2021.
Click here to read about the Global NCAP test results of the 2021 Mahindra Thar.
Mahindra Thar Rear Seats
- Mahindra Thar likely to be offered with front-facing seats alone
- Global NCAP had tested the car with front-facing seats only
- Side-facing seats come with lap belts and might compromise safety
Source – CarandBike.com