Tata Safari, Harrier Receive Global NCAP Safer Choice Award 2024

Tata Motors has received Global NCAP’s Safer Choice Award for its flagship SUVs, the Safari and Harrier. This prestigious award is granted to automakers committed to the highest safety standards in vehicles sold in India. Both the Safari and Harrier achieved five-star Global NCAP ratings for adult and child occupant protection, earning top scores in Global NCAP’s #SaferCarsForIndia campaign last year.

Mohan Savarkar, Vice President, Product Line, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles said, "Tata Motors has been known for safety, and our entire SUV range today is already five-star. But then when this opportunity came up from Global NCAP to try and see if we could go one more step higher with the Safer Choice Awards 2024. As Tata Motors is always up for challenges, so when this opportunity came up, we wanted to participate and see if we could make it. And the GNCAP officials, of course, were very receptive to our proposal."

Also Read: Tata Harrier, Safari Score 5-Stars In Latest Global NCAP Crash Tests

Tata Motors further submitted these models for additional Safer Choice conformity tests. The SUVs successfully met the performance and volume requirements for safety features like Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), speed assistance, and Blind Spot Detection (BSD) systems.

David Ward, President, of Towards Zero Foundation, said, "Well, I think it's tremendous that there's no competition for a five-star rating. And, that is a huge transformation. When you think of where we started in 2014, it's extraordinary progress. And just in just ten years. I think what's significant about this, award is that we're also focusing on crash avoidance technology, and we're trying to shift, if you like, the focus towards crash avoidance."

Global NCAP introduced the Safer Choice Award in 2018 to encourage automakers to exceed current safety protocols. Initially focused on India and Africa, the award criteria include achieving a five-star rating for adult occupant protection, a minimum of four stars for child occupant protection, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and pedestrian protection requirements.

Saul Billingsley, Executive Director, FIA Foundation said, "Government moves quite slowly. Democracy moves quite slowly. Technology doesn't have to. I think if we can have leaders like Tata showing the way, and encouraging other manufacturers to follow, then we will see a much quicker uptake of active safety systems and it'll be a benefit to the whole car fleet. One of the things which have always stood out in this story over the last decade is how the Indian manufacturers stepped up to the plate, at a time when they didn't necessarily have, the capability, the technology, or even access to it, as opposed to a lot of the global manufacturers who operate in India had the access but chose not to go that way."

The Tata Safari and Harrier are not the first recipients of this award. In 2020, the Mahindra XUV300 was recognised under the older testing protocols, achieving a five-star rating for adult occupant protection and four stars for child occupant protection. Since then, Global NCAP has updated its protocols, making the standards more rigorous.