Saar: The sub-4 metre SUV received four and two stars for adult and child occupant safety respectively.

India’s favourite sub-4 metre SUV, the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, has received a four-star safety rating for the adult occupants and two-star safety rating for child occupants. The result was announced by Global NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) during the inaugural Global NCAP World Congress held in New Delhi last week. This the second subcompact SUV, which is made and sold in India, that was crash-tested by Global NCAP under its campaign – #SaferCarsForIndia.

The crash-tested variant was equipped with dual airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, seatbelt reminder for the driver, ISOFIX anchorages for child booster seats and ABS with EBD. The car was put through the testing regime at 64kmph. Here’s the video:

For adult occupants, the Vitara Brezza offered good protection to the driver’s and front passenger’s head and neck. While the protection to the chest was good for the front passenger, it was marginal for the driver. For the knees, the driver received marginal protection while the front passenger received marginal on one and good protection on the other. Global NCAP said that during the event of a frontal crash, the knees could impact with dangerous structures behind the dashboard supported by the Tranfascia tube. The bodyshell of the Vitara Brezza was rated as stable and it was capable of withstanding further loadings.

For child occupants, the child booster seats were installed in forward-facing position with a top tether. As per Global NCAP’s crash-testing regime, two child dummies are placed – one for a three-year-old and the other for an 18-month-old. The three-year-old received good protection for the head and marginal for the chest. On the other hand, the 18-month-old received poor protection for the head and limited for the chest. Global NCAP said that the child restraint systems did not show incompatibility. However, Maruti Suzuki not offering three-point seatbelts for all seats worked against the Vitara Brezza’s safety score.

It is safe to say that apart from shining on sales charts for the carmaker, the Vitara Brezza also does well in terms of passenger safety. In India, it goes up against the likes of the Honda WR-V, Ford EcoSport and the Tata Nexon. While the Nexon isn’t as popular as the Vitara Brezza in India, it surely is a better proposition when it comes to passenger safety.