The Renault Duster facelift, launched a year ago, has received a rather shocking 0-star a safety rating (one without airbags) in a crash test conducted by Global New Car Assembly Program (NCAP). The airbag equipped version of the car did slightly better registering a respectable 3-star rating.
The Duster facelift, launched last year, hasn’t been able to make a big dent in the sales of the segment leader, the Hyundai Creta and looks a shadow of the original version launched about 5 years ago. This news will surely add more disappointment to Renault, who have done well in recent times due to some record breaking sales by the Kwid hatchback.
Last year, Latin NCAP crash tested the one-airbag variant of the Columbia made Duster and the car received a 4-star rating, one star more than the MADE-IN-INDIA variant. The reason could be the quality of materials used in India and also the fact that Indian norms are a bit inferior to that of Latin American. Cost-cutting also be the issue of this saga.
Over the last 3 years, Global NCAP have tested many popular Indian cars, with only a few passing with flying colours like the VW Polo, Toyota Etios and the Tata Zest. Cars in good demand like the Maruti Alto And Renault Kwid received average ratings and this leaves a question in our mind : have these cars got the ability to take care of the ones sitting inside during a fatal crash?
Checkout the crash test videos, after a jump.
To read more on Renault Duster, Click here
Also see: Renault Duster Petrol Automatic launched – 1.5L, CVT, Rs. 10.32 lakh
