Maruti Suzuki’s Commitment to Safer Cars in India

Having delivered its first car in 1983, Maruti Suzuki has been India’s largest car maker since the early 90s. Initially known as Maruti Udyog Ltd., a collaboration between the Indian government and Suzuki from Japan, the car maker has evolved over time to continue its dominance for over 30 years in what is now the world’s third largest car market.

Over the years, India’s leading car maker has been known for making reliable, efficient and cost effective cars that have democratised car ownership in India. However in the same period, Maruti Suzuki has also faced backlash from consumers for making cars that are deemed unsafe. Its cars have often been described as ‘tin cans’ which could crumble in the smallest of accidents.

Despite the criticism, Maruti Suzuki has been slow to react. It has always looked up to the government’s policies to shape the future of its cars, and with the government of India now actively working on making Indian cars safer, Maruti Suzuki is getting ready to shift gears so that it can offer safer cars to its customers.

Rules for Vehicular Safety in India

The rules governing India’s car market have also evolved over time. In 1994, the Indian government passed a law requiring the driver seat to be equipped with a seat belt. This law was amended in 2003, and it became mandatory for all seats to have their own seat belts. The usage of rear seat belts was mandated in 2005. However, the enforcement of these rules remained a challenge.

While this evolution was slow in the beginning, it picked up pace in 2017 when India went from BS3 to BS4. However, while the limelight was on the new emissions norms, it was the introduction of new safety regulations (AIS-145) that proved to be a game changer. A driver side airbag, ABS, seat belt reminder, rear parking sensors and a speed warning system became mandatory on all cars.

In 2020, the pace of evolution became a blur as the government decided to skip BS5 and move straight to BS6. Furthermore, in 2022, the AIS-145 standards for car safety that had been implemented in 2017 were updated and made more stringent and now required dual airbags.

Crash Testing of Cars Sold in India

While safety features are helpful, it is the structure of a vehicle that helps keep the occupants of a vehicle safe in the event of a crash. In 2014, Global NCAP began testing Indian cars, and not surprisingly, most cars received zero stars in their crash test. This included Maruti Suzuki models such as the Alto and Swift. 

However, other cars such as the Hyundai i10 and Ford Figo also received a zero star rating. The Volkswagen Polo, a hatchback known for its safety quotient, was also tested by Global NCAP. The crash test body tested two variants of the German hatchback, one with no airbags and one with two airbags. The variants with no airbags received zero stars while the model with dual airbags got four stars. It highlighted the importance of safety features, especially airbags to attain a good crash test rating.

Indian Car Makers Push For Five Star Cars

Soon after, Tata Motors began sending its cars for crash tests to Global NCAP. Their cars too began achieving five star results. This was followed up by Mahindra, then Hyundai, Kia and soon after, almost all major mass market car makers were sending their cars to Global NCAP. Initially, some cars received a low rating, even zero stars, however, soon after, most Indian cars started receiving five stars from Global NCAP.

However, Maruti Suzuki continued to receive poor ratings for its mass market cars such as the Alto, S-Presso and Swift. The Vitara Brezza and the Ertiga were two exceptions, receiving 4 and 3 star ratings, respectively.

In 2023, the Indian government introduced the Bharat NCAP program. Constructed in partnership with Global NCAP, the Bharat NCAP was supposed to give Indian car makers an easy avenue for crash testing. However, the Bharat NCAP remains a voluntary test that car makers can choose to put their models through.

In 2024, Global NCAP tested the new Dzire and the sedan managed to achieve a 5 star crash test rating, a first for the Indian car maker. The previous generation Dzire was also tested and it only received 2 stars, highlighting the stark difference in the two models.

Challenges Faced By Maruti Suzuki

It is evident by now that Maruti Suzuki, despite being India’s leading car maker, has been slow in upping its safety game. Its reliance on standards set by the Indian government has been one of the main reasons behind its late arrival in the club of five star cars in India. However, the Indian car maker has faced other challenges along the way as well.

Rigid Customer Base

While most car makers will have you believe that Indian consumers want new features, it is only half the story. While Indian consumers are now aspiring for better features (including safety features) on their cars, they still remain price conscious. This has forced some car makers to either raise their prices too high, or offer sub par quality features.

Other car makers can get away with such antics, however, Maruti Suzuki simply can’t afford to have its feet in two different boats. The brand has established its dominance in the Indian car market as a juggernaut based on reliability and price sensitivity, and antics have never been a part of its strategy. Instead, the brand has always slowly, but steadily improved its cars, balancing customer demands and rising prices at the same time.

Lack of Testing Facilities

For a major part of its tenure in India, Maruti Suzuki has been dependent upon Suzuki Japan for development and testing of its cars. This is because Maruti Suzuki had no testing facility of their own. A lack of testing facilities meant that development cycles for new cars were longer and it also increased the cost of development.

The Indian car maker proposed its own testing facility in Rohtak, Haryana in 2009, and subsequently, it came into operation in 2014. The Vitara Brezza was the first car to be completely developed in India by . This was one of the reasons why the compact SUV was able to achieve a 4 star rating by Global NCAP. Another reason is that the Vitara Brezza was based on the Global C platform which had been developed by Suzuki for global markets.

The Rohtak facility was built in two phases, with the first phase being completed in 2016. The second phase of the facility was completed in 2019. The site encompasses many test tracks, laboratories and a crash test facility for development of India-centric models. This has led to a reduction in development time and costs, which has also allowed Maruti Suzuki to increase the safety quotient of its cars. The facility was directly responsible for the 5 star crash test rating achieved by the new Maruti Suzuki Dzire.

What Lies Ahead?

By introducing stringent policy norms, the Indian government has been pushing hard for car makers to step up their efforts in making safer cars for India. In most cases, car makers have had to react to government measures, instead of proactively adopting them beforehand, with Maruti Suzuki too having been caught in this cycle on multiple occasions.

However, the Indian car maker recently announced that it would offer 6 airbags standard on all its cars by the end of 2025. This decision has come as a proactive measure, ahead of a government mandate, which is also mulling making six airbags mandatory on all cars sold in India. We’ve already seen the Maruti Eeco and Maruti Wagon R receive six airbag as standard across all variants, showing Maruti’s commitment to fulfilling the shift otwards greater safety in their cars.

In the coming months, once Maruti Suzuki makes six airbags standard on its cars, most car makers who haven’t already done the same will have to follow, otherwise they would risk becoming obsolete in these changing times. As for Maruti Suzuki, this proactive measure to switch to six airbags could start a new era for the Indian car maker, one in which it redefined industry norms by actively enforcing the latest safety technology instead of waiting for government directives.

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