Anand Mahindra to Tata Nexon: Well done!

Anand Mahindra, the chairman of automaker Mahindra & Mahindra, has just congratulated the Tata Nexon for its excellent show in the Global NCAP crash test. The Nexon scored a full five stars in the crash test, thus becoming the safest SUV in its class, ahead of both the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and the Ford EcoSport. Here’s what Mr. Mahindra tweeted yesterday,

Big shout out and congratulations to Tata Motors for this achievement. We will join them in proving that ‘Made in India’ is second to none… https://t.co/KBlBD344oG

— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) December 7, 2018

Mr. Anand Mahindra has just said that his company, Mahindra, would soon join Tata Motors in making Indian cars safer. This could be indicative of a ‘5 star’ safety-rated Mahindra car or SUV getting launched soon. In fact, the upcoming S201 code-named compact SUV could just be the product that Mahindra is hinting at.

Any which way, Indian automakers like Tata Motors and Mahindra are taking the lead in coming out with safer cars for India, and it’s a wonderful thing for passenger safety in a country where hundreds of people die each day due to road accidents.

While Mahindra’s 5 star safety-rated car is yet to arrive, the brand turned out a good performance with the Marazzo MPV, which scored a decent 4 star rating in the Global NCAP test. In the past, the ultra popular Mahindra Scorpio fared rather poorly in the Global NCAP test, which rated its body as unstable, giving it a zero star rating. In future though, Mahindra cars are likely to be a lot safer, as evidenced by the newly designed Marazzo.

Mahindra is also planning to launch the new Thar, Scorpio and a slew of other SUVs on a new platform. Considering tighter safety standards thanks to the Bharat New Vehicle Safety Assessment Program (BNVSAP), we expect the new Mahindra SUVs to be a lot safer than the ones they replace. New SUV platforms that Mahindra is putting together is meant to clear crash tests comfortably.

Coming back to the Tata Nexon, the compact SUV is equipped with two airbags and ABS+EBD across variants. It’s body has been rated as stable, which means that the airbags will actually do their job of protecting passengers in case of a crash. It’s critical for the body structure to be stable, and cars with unstable bodies will not protect the passengers even if they have airbags as standard.

The Nexon sold in India is among the least priced, sub-4 meter compact SUVs in its segment, and it’s rather incredible that Tata Motors has managed to pack in segment leading safety technology in a package that’s so affordable. The compact SUV is offered with two engine options – a 1.2 liter turbocharged petrol with 108 Bhp-170 Nm and a 1.5 liter turbocharged diesel engine with 108 Bhp-260 Nm. The diesel motor makes segment leading power and torque numbers. 6 speed manual and AMT options are available with both engines. Average ex-showroom prices of the Tata Nexon start from Rs. 6.37 lakhs.

Meanwhile, what will be interesting to see is a crash test of the Ford EcoSport with 6 airbags. Fords are known to be built tough, and a good rating from the Global NCAP will only cement the EcoSport’s reputation of being a solidly built compact SUV.