Skoda India says the next step after its models’ strong crash test performance is more active safety features.
At the recent Safer with Skoda event to celebrate the five-star Global NCAP (GNCAP) crash test results of its Slavia and Kushaq models, Skoda went on to reiterate its commitment to safety in India. Speaking to Autocar India, brand director Petr Solc stated that, apart from just crash test performance, active safety is also very important to Skoda and it is being evaluated for the next set of model refreshes in India.
- Skoda India pushing safety as its USP
- Almost every Skoda since 2009 has a 5-star NCAP rating
- Skoda Superb BS6.2 to be launched later this year
“For us at Skoda, safety is part of our DNA and part of our strategy,” Solc said. “And when we see that the Indian government is paying more and more attention to safety, so then we also use part of our USP, which is safety.” Much of the Kushaq and Slavia’s (and by extension, VW’s Taigun and Virtus) high GNCAP score is down to their chassis, which is made with a high percentage of high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel, as part of the MQB A0 IN platform, which will later spawn a smaller SUV too. In fact, the Body-In-White (BIW), an exposed chassis of the Kushaq, was on display at the event, and will be shown to customers in showrooms across the country as well.
The exposed chassis showed exactly where high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel are used.
Skoda Kushaq, Slavia to get more safety features
But, as they say, prevention is better than cure, and while the strong chassis will save you after a crash, the best-case scenario is preventing the crash in the first place with the help of active safety features. This is something Skoda agrees with, and not one to sit on its GNCAP laurels, the brand is looking at introducing more active safety tech in future models and model updates. “In terms of active [safety] and ADAS, with all the new generations, facelifts and also model year of our cars, in each generation and each year we will bring additional safety elements,” Solc said. “Also, on the Kushaq and the Slavia, you can look forward to additional safety elements that we will be bringing to our cars. And not only for these two models, but for everything in the future.”
As far as existing active safety measures go, all Skoda India cars and SUVs are currently equipped, as standard, with ABS, EBD, ESC, TCS, rollover mitigation, brake disc wiping and a tyre pressure monitor. They also get Multi-Collision Braking, which actively corrects the vehicle’s trajectory after a collision, preventing further collisions, and motor-slip regulation, which, in essence, increases engine braking when it detects rapid deceleration. Additionally, the flagship Skoda Kodiaq SUV comes with active safety features like anti-slip regulation (ASR), brake pre-fill and driver fatigue alert as standard. Which active safety features will be introduced in India remains to be seen, but internationally, the Kodiaq is offered with sensor-based ADAS features like adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition, adaptive lane assist, and active forward and reverse collision mitigation braking.
A history of Skoda and NCAP
The Slavia was the latest Skoda model to be crash tested by independent safety body Global NCAP, and came out with dual five-star score, for both adult and child occupants. Prior to this, its SUV counterpart, the Kushaq, received the same ratings, and both vehicles scored high on points too. However, internationally, these are not the first Skodas to be crash tested by NCAP agencies, and the brand has had a stellar track record with this.
“All our cars are 5-star rated; not only the Kushaq and Slavia, but also cars like the Kodiaq,” Solc said. “For the last 15 years, all our cars that are distributed worldwide have got a 5-star rating.”
In the Euro NCAP crash tests, every Skoda model since 2009 has scored five stars, save for the Citigo city car, which scored 3 stars in 2019, but 5 in 2011. The five-star cars include the Octavia (2022, 2019, 2013), Fabia (2021, 2014), Enyaq iV (2021), Kamiq (2019), Scala (2019), Karoq (2017), Kodiaq (2017), Superb (2015, 2009), Rapid (2012) and Yeti (2009). The Superb and Roomster also scored 5 stars in 2008, and it’s worth noting that even those that didn’t score 5 stars prior to 2009, still scored 4.
It’s a similar story with Australasian NCAP (ANCAP) where every Skoda model tested has been awarded five stars – the Fabia (2021), Kamiq (2019), Octavia (2019), Scala (2019), Karoq (2017) and Kodiaq (2017). Of all the aforementioned 5-starrers, the ones that have been sold in India are the Karoq, Kodiaq, Yeti, and all iterations of the Octavia and Superb, albeit most of them were locally assembled.
How big a consideration is safety when you buy a new car? Let us know in the Comments section below.
Also See:
Skoda Enyaq iV India launch by March 2024
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