After receiving a major fillip earlier in the year with a four-star crash test rating from Global NCAP, Tata Motors' popular compact SUV, the Nexon, has added another feather to its cap as the updated model has secured a five-star rating at the latest round of crash tests, becoming the first made-in-India, sold-in-India model to register this high a score.
Following the Nexon’s four-star result earlier this year, Tata made the seat-belt reminder feature for both driver and front passenger standard across all variants. Armed with this, and having passed a side-impact test meeting UN95 side-impact protection requirements, the Nexon's has now secured five stars for adult occupant protection, scoring 16.06 points out of the total 17 – as opposed to the 13.56 points notched up by the model when it was tested in August. This rating is valid for the units that will be produced from December 7, 2018 onwards.
Commenting on the Nexon's stellar showing, David Ward, Secretary General at Global NCAP, said, “This is a huge landmark for car safety in India. Congratulations to Tata Motors for achieving India’s first five-star rating for adult occupant protection. The Nexon was engineered in India and this shows the huge capability of the domestic industry to achieve excellence in safety design and performance. With the Nexon, Tata has shown the global car industry that to achieve five stars you can 'Make in India'.”
When Global NCAP tested and rated the Nexon this past August, its report noted that it offered "four-star adult occupant protection with good protection for the head and neck of the driver and passenger, and adequate protection for their chests." Interestingly, while protection for the driver and front passenger's thighs was rated "marginal" in the earlier test, it has been rated "good" in the latest crash test. As was the case with the previous test, Global NCAP has rated the Nexon's body-shell integrity as "stable" in the 64kph offset deformable barrier crash test.
An interesting point worth mentioning is that the X1 platform the Nexon is based on was originally developed for the second-gen Indica (known to us as the Indica Vista), which was meant to be exported to Europe. The platform was engineered to meet crash test standards abroad, and the Nexon's strong showing can be credited to the same.
What has remained the same with the new crash-test results is the Nexon's child occupant rating. The three-star child occupant rating is attributed to "the rearward facing Isofix Child Restraint Systems (CRS) made available by Tata and installed with Isofix anchorages", which provided "good protection" to the 18-month-old child-test dummy. The installed forward-facing Isofix CRS offered "good protection for head and limited protection to the chest."
What's worth noting is that all variants of the Nexon – from the base XE to the top-spec XZ+ – get ABS and two airbags as standard. The Isofix child-seat anchorage is offered only on the XZ+ and XZA+ trims.
Also see:
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2018 Tata Nexon AMT video review