Global NCAP has released a new crash-test result, with the fourth-generation Suzuki Swift “falling short” on safety and scoring just two stars.
The model tested was an Indian-spec Swift, built by Maruti Suzuki (which also produces the hatchback for the South African market). As with the SA-spec model, it comes standard with two airbags and Isofix child-seat anchors.
But it’s important to note the Indian version tested here does without ABS, a vital safety feature that is standard across the SA line-up (along with EBD and BA). Electronic stability control, though, is not offered in either market.
The Indian-spec Swift scored two stars for adult occupant protection and two stars for child occupant protection (as opposed to the three stars registered by the European model in an earlier Euro NCAP test). Its bodyshell was rated “unstable”.
Global NCAP says the two-star result for adult occupants was “due to high compression to the driver chest, unstable structure and poor protection for the feet explained by pedal displacement on the driver side”. The child occupant protection score of two stars, meanwhile, was explained by “the forward-facing positioning of the 18-month-old dummy in the test, offering low protection”, plus the “low protection offered to the chest of the three-year-old dummy”.
“The latest version of the Swift sold in India has improved and it is good to see dual airbags as standard. This confirms the beneficial effect of the Indian government’s new crash test regulations. But the performance of the Swift sold in Europe and Japan shows that a better safety performance is still possible so Global NCAP would like to see Maruti Suzuki aim higher,” said David Ward, Global NCAP secretary general.
Watch the full crash-test video below (and check out the full results of the test below that)…
