The Suzuki Swift Latin NCAP rating was zero stars
The Suzuki Swift recently scored a Latin NCAP safety rating of zero stars and Tata Motors has decided that it is time to take a jab at the hatchback’s performance in the crash test.
Tata has taken this course of action despite the fact that the tests conducted by Latin NCAP and Global NCAP for Indian cars, conducted under the #SaferCarsForIndia initiative, differ vastly.
But, it is a fact that the Suzuki Swift scored no stars in the Latin NCAP crash test, although the car that was tested did come with dual front airbags and ISOFIX mounts.
Apart from being unable to protect its occupants, both adult and child, completely, the car had a bodyshell that was borderline unstable and Latin NCAP also found that its footwell area was unstable as well.
In addition, while it did score 66 percent in pedestrian safety, the Suzuki Swift Latin NCAP rating for Safety Assist systems was only 3 points, or 7 percent, since it does not come with ESC as standard, apart from missing out on other technology.
On its social media handles, Tata Motors posted a picture of a gambling machine with the word ‘SIWTF’, warning people to not gamble on safety. There was also a description in the posts.
It read – “Latest NCAP safety test shows that it’s not safe to ride ‘Swift’ly. Yet another reason for you to book New Tiago – the #SeriouslyFun hatchback rated 4 stars for safety by Global NCAP.”
Since the Tiago and the Maruti Swift are direct rivals, Tata is making use of the poor crash test performance of the Latin market Swift to promote its own India-spec product which did score 4 stars for adult occupant protection and 3 stars for child occupant protection.
This is not the first time Tata has called out Maruti’s or Suzuki’s poor crash test performances. Earlier this year, it invited the Maruti Baleno (and the Hyundai i20) for a crash date, while it did not miss the opportunity to pour scorn on the crash test results of the S-Presso and Wagon R either.
It has to be seen if Suzuki responds to Tata Motor’s actions and if these campaigns result in improved sales of Tata cars in India.
