Watch A Bunch Of Indian Market Cars Fold Like Paper In Crash Tests

These cars have three things in common: all are made for the Indian market, all were deemed to have ‘unstable’ body structures, and all were given zero stars in recent Global NCAP tests. It’s clear that while much of the world takes the safety of new cars for granted, you’re much less fortunate if you’re buying a car in a developing market.

As well as the shoddy bodyshells, these cars also have a complete lack of safety features. Only one - the Renault Kwid - was fitted with an airbag, and none of the cars even have seatbelt pre-tensioners.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Indian market cars spectacularly fail a Global NCAP test - a couple of years ago we were looking at another motley crew of budget cars that had scored 0 points. These tests don’t appear to show that much progress has happened in that time, and remember, these are big, global car companies that are more than capable of making cars for other markets that are perfectly safe.

Commenting on the lack of airbags in certain Kwid models, Global NCAP secretary general David Ward said:

“It is very surprising that a manufacturer like Renault introduced the Kwid initially lacking this essential feature [an airbag]. Global NCAP strongly believes that no manufacturer anywhere in the world should be developing new models that are so clearly sub-standard. Car makers must ensure that their new models pass the UN’s minimum crash test regulations, and support use of an airbag.”

The silver lining is that the Indian government will introduce mandatory crash tests for all new cars in late 2017, which should put a stop to manufacturers flogging such woefully inadequate cars in the country.