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Globally, safety innovation in the automotive industry is on the up, with development focused on driver assistance systems. However, emerging markets still remain a problem when it comes to car safety. There is no doubt that many OEMs know how to build safe cars, yet recent test results from the Global New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP) show that manufacturers still sell substandard models in emerging markets – as it’s often perfectly legal.
India ranks sixth largest in the world for the production and sale of passenger cars and could become the world’s third largest market by 2020. Yet in early 2014, NCAP crash tested five of India’s most popular cars, including the Maruti-Suzuki Alto800 and the Datsun Go. All of the cars selected by the organisation for a frontal impact at 64km/h received zero-star adult protection ratings.
Despite the nation’s high rate of fatal accidents, car manufacturers and suppliers have tended to strip features such as airbags and anti-lock brakes out of entry-level cars in India, arguing that customers in the country aren’t willing to pay extra for them. However, since the NCAP results, increasing awareness and acceptance surrounding safety technologies in India has began to emerge. The country has subsequently become somewhat of a focus market for airbags, anti-lock brake systems (ABS) and electronic stability control (ESC).
Most recently, the chassis and safety division of international automotive supplier Continental announced that in 2016 it will build a new assembly line for ABS and ESC for passenger cars and two-wheelers at its plant in Gurgaon, Haryana state, India. The local production start of the electronic control unit is also planned for the year 2018 in Bangalore. The company is targeting the delivery of its first localised ABS and ESC products for India to a leading vehicle manufacturer by the end of this year.
“India tops the list of nations in total number of road fatalities. The widespread use of ABS, airbags and ESC in vehicles can considerably reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities on Indian roads,” said Claude d’Gama Rose, managing director at Continental Automotive Components India.
As many as 92% of small-car buyers in India wanted airbags in 2014, according to a study published in December by research firm J D Power, but only 12% of cars sold in that segment offered them. Therefore, the recent change in attitude coming from car manufacturers and suppliers could be a response to shifting consumer tastes, rather than a direct response to lobbying by safety advocates.
Whichever way, the introduction of these safety technologies into the Indian market by large manufacturers and suppliers such as Continental could signify the beginning of shifting awareness and practices in the country. The so-called ‘emerging’ safety market may well be already partially complete.