Renault Duster Scores Zero Stars In Latest Global NCAP Crash Tests

The Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) is a charitable organisation that promotes safety in new cars. For India, it is doing so by highlighting how bad cars sold in India are in terms of safety, irrespective of whether they are built by Indian/International companies.

As part of the #SaferCarforIndia campaign, G-NCAP first tested some cars sold in India, including the popular Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, Hyundai i10, Tata Nano, Ford Figo, Volkswagen Polo, Datsun Go, Maruti Suzuki Swift, Toyota Etios, Renault Kwid, Maruti Suzuki Eeco, Mahindra Scorpio, Hyundai Eon, Honda Mobilio and Tata Zest. The result was generally poor. Now, Global NCAP has released the results for the Renault Duster and it isn’t heartening at all.

Two versions of the Renault Duster were tested, one without any airbags and one with a driver-side airbag. The one without the airbags scored zero in the front overlap crash test, while the one with the single airbag scored three stars. G-NCAP also noted that the airbag fitted to the Duster with the single airbag was smaller than the airbag fitted to units of the Duster sold in Latin America! The Latin American model scored 4 stars out of five in the same crash tests.

Recommended Read: Renault Duster Review

"It is troubling that during the UN Road Safety Week we yet again encounter a zero star car in our crash testing in India. Renault produces the Duster in a number of markets and yet it seems content to provide a version for India which falls so far short on safety. The version of the Duster with an airbag scores three stars, but this too fell short as it was fitted with a smaller airbag. A model with a correctly sized airbag should be provided as standard," said David Ward, Secretary General of Global NCAP.

The Renault Duster 1.5 dCi 85PS STD, 1.5 dCi 85PS RxE and 1.5 petrol RxE variant are not offered with airbags and could potentially be unsafe in an accident - in fact, the STD variant is not even offered with accident-mitigating features such as ABS.

A statement released by Renault India following the tests, says, "Safety is of paramount importance for Renault and all our products meet and exceed the requisite safety standards set by Indian Regulatory Authorities. India is gradually moving towards international safety norms by including more robust safety regulations and the assurance of the Bharat NCAP is a positive step in this direction. As a customer-focused company, Renault fully supports this initiative and we are already future-ready in terms of technology, design and engineering for enhanced safety for all our vehicles. Indian Government has announced that the crash test regulation for the existing cars will come into effect in 2019 and for the new cars in 2017. Renault fully supports this."

This is basically reiterating the fact that there is not enough incentive in the Indian market to implement more safety features in their cars - in this case, the Duster. Safety is not the greatest priority for most customers buying a car in India, and until there is no regulation mandating car manufacturers to develop/manufacture safer cars, they will not do so voluntarily - or face the risk of increasing costs and losing out to competition.