Africa’s safest car is the made-in-India Mahindra XUV300

Global NCAP or New Car Assessment Program has just tested the made in India Mahindra XUV300 for Africa. The compact-SUV scored a 5-star rating for adults and a 4-star rating for children in the crash test. Because Africa and India share the same rules for crash tests, the XUV300 is the safest car that is sold in Africa. The body shell of the compact-SUV was rated as stable and it was capable of withstanding more loadings. The footwell area was also rated stable. The vehicle did have ABS and dual airbags because it is offered as standard equipment. The child seat that was placed on the rear seat did not have excess movement during the impact which helped in offering fair protection. The GNCAP tweeted with the crash test video that you watch below.

In a milestone moment for vehicle safety, the India manufactured @MahindraXUV300 becomes Global NCAP’s first five star car in Africa. Read the full story here: https://t.co/zo29llMrUE #SaferCarsForAfrica #50by30 pic.twitter.com/xMQ2s57YEj

— GlobalNCAP (@GlobalNCAP) January 28, 2021

On this Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa tweeted, saying “We are elated to say Africa’s safest car is a Mahindra and boasts with the highest 5-star Adult Safety Rating as well as the highest 4-star Child Safety Rating making the #XUV300 the obvious choice for your family.” He used the hashtag XUV300 and SaferCarsForAfrica. He also mentioned Vijay Nakra, the Chief Executive Officer at Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, Pavan K Goenka who is the Managing Director of Mahindra and Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director of Auto and Farms sector for Mahindra. 

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This is a huge accomplishment for Mahindra as their vehicle has become the safest vehicle in Africa. The protection for the front passenger was marked as “Good” for all the parameters. Whereas the protection for the chest and the left leg of the driver was marked as “Adequate”, the protection for rest of the body parts was marked as “Good”. Speaking of the side impact, the XUV300 met the technical requirements of UN95 regulation. The compact-SUV received the same score as the Indian one because the vehicle is basically the same and also the regulations are the same. Some other vehicles to score a 5-star rating are the Tata Nexon and the Tata Altroz.

“We are delighted to see the first five star result in our Safer Cars for Africa project. This is a landmark moment for vehicle safety in Africa. We are particularly pleased to recognise the continued safety commitment from Mahindra. The XUV300 was engineered in India and demonstrates the capability of the domestic Indian auto industry to achieve excellence in safety design and performance for global export markets.” said David Ward, Towards Zero Foundation President said,

Speaking of the XUV300 itself, it gets a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a 1.5-litre diesel engine. The diesel engine produces 117 PS of max power and a peak torque output of 300 Nm. It is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox or a 6-speed AMT. The petrol engine produces 110 PS of max power output and  200 Nm of peak torque output. It is offered with a 6-speed manual gearbox only. Although a 6-speed AMT gearbox should join the line-up soon. Mahindra should also launch a 1.2-litre turbocharged, direct-injection petrol engine which is called mStallion that was showcased at the Auto Expo 2020. The variant was named ‘Sportz’. The engine produced class-leading power outputs of 130 bhp and 230 Nm of peak torque. However, there is no timeline confirmed for the launch of this variant. Currently, Mahindra XUV300 starts from Rs. 7.95 lakhs ex-showroom and goes all the way upto Rs. 12.30 lakhs ex-showroom.

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