

An international crash-test agency called Global NCAP conducted the first ever independent crash tests for some of the most popular cars in India, several of which are also sold in the Middle East.

The cars chosen for crash testing were the Tata Nano, the Maruti-Suzuki Alto 800, the Ford Figo, the previous-generation Hyundai i10, the pre-facelift Volkswagen Polo and the newer VW Polo, all of them hatchbacks. The agency used the basic versions for each model so none of them came with airbags except for the new VW Polo, which now comes standard with 2 airbags. As a result, all the non-airbag cars received zero out of five stars for adult occupant protection.

Volkswagen no longer sells a non-airbag version of the Polo, so the new model achieved a four-star rating for adult occupant protection.

The vehicle structures of the Hyundai i10, Tata Nano and Maruti-Suzuki Alto 800 collapsed during the crash tests. Apparently the structural weakness is bad enough that even if the cars came with airbags, these would not be effective enough to protect the occupants. Only the structures of the VW Polo and the Ford Figo remained intact after the 64 kph crash test.