Kia Carens Crash Tested By Global NCAP

Kia’s most affordable MPV has been crash-tested by the global safety watchdog Global NCAP. It’s the second time that this Made-in-India car has been crash-tested. In June 2022, The Carens was tested under the old protocol and it received a 3-star rating for both adult and child occupant safety. But now it has undergone the test under the new protocol. So how did it fare? Well, there’s a story behind it. When the car was tested under the new protocol, the structure was improved but the test showed high neck values for the driver, resulting in zero stars for adult occupant protection.

Alejandro Furas, Global NCAP Secretary General said, “There has been an improvement in Kia’s rating for the Carens since our original test when the model scored a zero rating for adult occupant protection. However, we were expecting a better performance in the retest given the Carens is fi]ed with six airbags as standard."

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Now, this was a voluntary crash test, so the results were shared with Kia India. That triggered an immediate reaction from the company to improve the neck performance, as well as the restraint systems. The company then sent a new test model off the production line. The scores were higher now because of the improvements and it managed 22.07 points out of 34 in adult occupant protection giving it a 3-star rating.

The protection offered to the driver’s and the passenger’s head was good, however, the protection offered to the driver’s neck was weak while the passenger’s neck received good protection. The bodyshell and footwell area were deemed as unstable just like last time. But the big improvement was in the child occupant safety score. The Carens aced it securing 41 out of 49 points giving it a 5-star score.

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The score was higher because Kia implemented the i-Size approval for CRS and offered 3-point seat belts in all seating positions, which was something that it had missed last time around. Though there might not be an improvement in the overall 3-star rating for the Carens, there is a big change in the score for child occupant safety.

The fact remains that Kia India has made an effort to improve and not settle for a 0-star-rated car. While the 3-star rating is not a bad one, Kia India would want to improve it in the coming years, an effort they are willing to put in.