Hyundai Verna scores 0-star rating in Latin-NCAP crash tests

Ever since the Grand i10 Nios scored a 3-star rating in the Global NCAP crash tests, Hyundai has been under scrutiny in the aspect of safety. In a rather discouraging move for the Korean carmaker, the Hyundai Verna has scored a 0-star rating in the recently concluded Latin NCAP crash tests.

Conducted for cars sold in Latin American markets, the Latin NCAP tested the base variant of the Hyundai Accent, which is sold as the Hyundai Verna in India. The sedan tested was equipped with a single driver-side airbag and ABS as standard. The Indian Hyundai Verna comes with dual airbags as standard, so this safety rating does not apply to the Verna in India.

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The Verna was put to multiple tests like frontal impact, side impact, whiplash and pedestrian protection. In the tests, the Verna scored 9.23 per cent in adult occupant protection, 53.11 per cent in pedestrian protection, 12.68 per cent in child occupant protection and 6.98 per cent for safety assist, which are too low scores for a car of its class. While the Verna scored a zero rating for safety, the tests revealed that the bodyshell and footwell area of the Verna remained stable after the impacts.

No child restraint system in the Accent

Due to the lack of child restraint systems in the variant selected for the test, the Hyundai Verna scored poorly in the child occupant protection. Likewise, the lack of autonomous emergency braking and electronic stability control in the variant cost points in the pedestrian protection. Due to the lack of passenger-side airbag in the base variant, it performed poorly in the adult occupant protection.

All these signs suggest that it was the lack of safety equipment in the base variant, which ended up with poor results for the Hyundai Verna. However, Latin NCAP had asked Hyundai for a better-equipped higher variant of the Verna for the tests. However, Hyundai voluntarily sent the base variant of the same.

Given that it was conducted by Latin NCAP, the car tested seems to be manufactured in Hyundai’s assembly plant in Mexico. Apart from the Mexican plant of Hyundai, the carmaker’s production unit in Chennai (India) is also a major production hub for the Hyundai Verna, which is exported to many other global markets. The India-made Hyundai Verna hasn’t gone under any form of NCAP crash tests yet.

The Hyundai Verna is on sale in India with three different engine options. First is the 1.5-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine, which makes 115 PS of power and 145 Nm of torque, and is available with 6-speed manual and CVT gearbox options. The second option is that of the 1.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine, which produces 115 PS of power and 250 Nm of torque, and is offered with the choices of a 6-speed manual and 6-speed torque converter. There is also a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine on offer, which is sold in an exclusive variant. This engine pumps out 120 PS of power and 172 Nm of torque and is available solely with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

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