India’s roads have become notorious for witnessing the highest number of deaths across the world. Poor driving habits and jaywalking are major reasons behind the high fatality rate. But the new generation cars have become much safer in comparison to the rickety barebones that were commonplace earlier.
In today’s automotive wrap we take a look at what has changed in the last year that has made the cars safer but first here's a look at what made headlines this week in the automotive space.
MoRTH plans to waive registration fees of EVs
To aid the adoption of electric vehicles, the central government has planned to waive the registrations certificate fees for EVs.
As per the statement released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, a draft notification has been issued proposing to exempt EVs from payment of registration fees.
Auto sales in May
The auto industry is estimated to have sold a little over 103,000 units in May which is only one-third compared to the average of 300,000 units sold every month between January to April.
Maruti Suzuki recorded a 140 percent rise in May while Hyundai sold 263 percent more than the same month last year.
Honda testing mobile battery pack
Honda Motor Company is testing a mobile battery pack used for powering electric three-wheelers or rickshaws in India as part of its project on swappable battery technology for electric vehicles.
The Japanese auto giant is testing the Honda Mobile Power Pack, a portable and swappable battery that stores electricity for use as a power source for small-sized electric mobility such as an electric two or three-wheeler.
Mercedes-Benz to sell cars directly to customers
Mercedes-Benz India will sell cars directly to customers by using online methods which the luxury carmaker promises will be "hassle-free and transparent".
The Pune-based company will commence the ‘direct to customer’ model called 'retail of the future' in the October-December quarter of this year. Such a sales and distribution model is seen for the first time by a luxury carmaker in India
Mercedes looks for double-digit growth
In 2020, Mercedes-Benz - India’s largest luxury car maker - saw a 43 percent decline in volumes; hit by the disruption caused by Covid-19.
But for this year, the company is gearing up to unwrap more than a dozen launches to clock a double-digit growth that may be coming from pent-up demand.
Tata Motors raises $425mn
Indian automaker Tata Motors has raised $425 million through unsecured offshore bonds at a rate of 4.35 percent to refinance existing debt and meet expenses, according to a term sheet of the deal seen by Reuters.
Of the proceeds raised, Tata will use 225 million pounds ($318 million) to refinance existing loans and the rest to meet corporate expenses, according to the paper.
Renault Triber gets four-star rating
Renault India's seven-seater model Triber has received a four-star safety rating for adult occupants, vehicle safety group Global NCAP said on Tuesday.
The model has achieved a four-star rating for adult occupants and three stars for child occupants as per the Global NCAP's latest round of crash tests.
Since the start of 2020, no less than eight cars that are sold in India have been crash-tested by Global NCAP, including the Renault Triber. The good news is that more than half of these scored a four-star safety rating for adult occupants. But the bad news is that the rest failed to get more than a three-star rating with one model failing to land even one star.
As India’s automotive market gets ranked in the top four markets in the world, technology for safe cars is also improving by leaps and bounds. From no airbag four years ago to having two mandatory airbags (driver + passenger), buyers have the choice of buying cars that are a lot safer than ever before. This is in addition to a host of other safety features made mandatory by the government including ABS and parking sensors.
While cars like the premium hatchback Tata Altroz, compact SUV Tata Nexon and the Mahindra XUV300 scored a perfect five-star rating in the same crash test, a few others like the Maruti Suzuki S-Presso and the Grand i10 Nios did not go beyond two stars. In fact, the S-Presso landed a zero in the Global NCAP crash tests.
But India still has a reason to cheer. The number of cars passing the crash test with four or more star rating is significantly higher than the number of cars crash-tested between 2017 to 2019 when eight out of 12 cars got a maximum of three stars.