Tata Motors’ twin SUVs – Harrier and Safari, have won the highest Global NCAP score for adult and child occupant safety in the Global New Car Assessment Programme’s (Global NCAP) latest test under the Safer Cars for India campaign.
The vehicles were voluntarily offered to Global NCAP for testing. They are among the final lot of India-made vehicles to be tested by the safety watchdog, before the Bharat NCAP tests, expected to kick off soon. Tata Safari and Tata Harrier were tested in compliance with 2022 assessment protocols.
Global NCAP’s crash test protocols assess frontal and side impact protection for all models, as well as Electronic Stability Control (ESC). Pedestrian protection and side impact pole protection assessments are required for vehicles scoring the highest star ratings.
Safari and Harrier are based on the same platform. Safari can seat up to seven passengers and Harrier five. Both the models are equipped with six airbags and ESC as standard.
According to Global NCAP, the Tata Safari and Tata Harrier achieved a top star rating for adult and child occupants showing a stable structure and robust restraint systems strategy which offered good protection in the tests. Both the models showed full protection for child occupants in the dynamic tests. Both are fitted with ISOFIX anchorages, and a passenger airbag disabling switch, making them very versatile for transporting child occupants.
Safari and Harrier are said to be meeting requirements of UN127 and GTR9 for pedestrian protection as standard. The models also comply with Global NCAP’s ESC requirements, with seatbelt reminders in all seating positions and optional ADAS technologies.
Congratulating Tata Motors on the results, Alejandro Furas, Global NCAP Secretary General, said, “This very strong result, the top adult and child safety score in our testing to date, confirms the manufacturer’s strong commitment to developing safer vehicles which we warmly welcome and applaud.” David Ward, President of the Towards Zero Foundation, said, “The top scoring result for the Safari and Harrier demonstrates an encouraging safety trend that we are confident will continue across the Indian automotive industry as Global NCAP’s testing transitions to the work of Bharat NCAP.”
With the latest set of tests, the total number of crash tests under the Safer Cars for India campaign reached 65. The campaign was launched by Global NCAP in 2014 with the objective of ‘promoting safer vehicles in the country’. The tests encourage an extra margin of safety to the cars, which have to meet the country’s mandatory safety regulations that were revised significantly a few years ago.
A total of 11 Tata models have been tested by Global NCAP so far. The Nexon, Altroz, and Punch earned the 5-star rating earlier. The Nano, among the first set of cars to be tested under the campaign, had received a zero-star rating.
