The Made-in-India Maruti Suzuki Ignis has been crash tested by Global NCAP. The tested model was manufactured at the company’s Gurgaon plant and was then exported to the South African market. In the crash test, the Maruti Ignis has scored a safety rating of 3 stars for adult occupant protection and 1 star for child protection.
The hatchback secured 9.99 points out of 17 for adult occupant safety and 8 points out of 49 for child safety. The crash tested Ignis was equipped with dual airbags, ABS, and ISOFIX child seat mounts as standard.
The crash test of the Maruti ignis involved a front offset impact at a speed of 64 km/h. The testing authorities claim that the front occupant protection levels ranged from adequate to good. However, protection provided to the driver was weak in the chest region. Additionally, knee protection for the driver was said to be ‘marginal’ as a major impact is highly likely to damage the driver’s knees.
Global NCAP has further described the Ignis’ body shell as unstable and incapable of taking more load. Regarding the child protection, Suzuki doesn’t recommend a specific Child Restraint System (CRS). The child seat that was anchored to the ISOFIX mounts during the crash test wasnt able to sufficiently protect the three-year old child dummy. Additionally, the Maruti Ignis doesn’t come with an option to disable the passenger side airbag. This feature could have been used to safely mount a rear facing child seat on the front passenger seat.
It is worth noting that the South Africa specced Ignis is identical to the one sold in India in the safety department, except the additional seatbelt reminder for the co-driver in the India model. It is interesting to note that the Euro NCAP had earlier crash tested the Ignis in 2016 and the hatch received a similar safety rating of 3 stars. The European models gets 6 airbags and electronic stability control. However, the European crash tests are a lot more stringent as compared to the Global NCAP tests.