The Indian made Maruti Suzuki Ignis which is built at the Gurugram facility and exported to Africa has been crash tested by the Global New Car Assessment Program (Global NCAP) and the car has obtained 3-stars for safety. In terms of safety equipment, the car has dual airbags, ABS and ISOFIX child seat anchorages as standard. The Ignis scored 9.99 points out of 17 for adult occupant protection which gives it a 3-star and 8 points out of 49 for child occupant safety giving it a 1-star.
The car was subjected to frontal offset impact and it was noted that the protection for the driver and passenger’s head and neck was good. The protection on the passengers chest area was adequate while on the drivers chest area scored poorly. The knee protection for the driver showed ‘marginal’ protection as described by the Global NCAP, as the knee could impact in the area behind the facia supported by the transfacia tube. The passengers knee showed adequate protection. In addition to this the body shell of the car was not capable of withstanding further loading and was rated unstable. The foot well on the other hand is considered stable. The Ignis comes as standard with a seat belt reminder for the driver but does not meet Global NCAP standards. In terms of equipment, both the cars are identical, but as per new mandate, the authorities in India have made the seat belt reminder compulsory for both driver and co-driver increasing its safety quotient.
The child occupant test was carried out on a 18 month old child dummy and a 3 year old child dummy. The 18 month old child dummy was affixed using a rearward facing child seat using the ISOFIX anchorages that come as standard and in the crash test it offered good protection to head and chest. The three year old child dummy was installed using a forward facing seat and offered good protection to the head and adequate protection the chest area. The manufacturer does not recommend a specific child restraint system (CRS) and it was upto Global NCAP authorities to decide which CRS should be used. The manufacturer does not provide with a provision to disable the co-driver’s airbag to safely install a rearward facing child seat.
The tests performed were on the right hand driven 5-door model of the Maruti Suzuki Ignis which is a near identical version that is currently sold in India. The Ignis which was tested in 2016 had also received 3-stars at the stringent Euro NCAP but the car featured 6-airbags and electronic stability control (ESC).