Baleno gets zero star rating in Latin American car crash test

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Premium hatchback Baleno has received zero stars in the crash test conducted by vehicle safety group Latin NCAP for the South American market. It said that the poor result was due to the poor side impact protection, low whiplash score, lack of standard side head protection airbags, lack of standard ESC (Electronic Speed Control) and the decision of Suzuki to not recommend child restraint systems (CRS) for the test.

Five stars indicate the highest score, while zero star ratings is the minimum score given during the vehicle crash test.

Baleno failed in whiplash and side impact test

The car manufactured by Suzuki at its Gujarat-based plant had achieved 20.03% in adult occupant box, 17.06% in child occupant box, 64.06% in pedestrian protection and vulnerable road users box and 6.98% in safety assist box, the safety group said in a statement.

Baleno was tested for frontal impact, side impact, whiplash and pedestrian protection. In the frontal impact the model displayed stable structure performance while the test for side impact showed high intrusion in the door with poor protection to the chest of the adult mannequin. The Whiplash test, on the other hand showed marginal neck protection.

Latin NCAP Secretary General Alejandro Furas said that the zero star for Baleno is a disappointment. This follows Swift’s zero star rating, with poor safety performance in adult and child occupant protection on offer from couple of weeks ago, he said. Further, the secretary also said that  Latin NCAP calls on Suzuki to significantly improve the standard safety equipment on the model as soon as possible for it to be tested to demonstrate the improvements.