The Way These Indian Cars Performed In Crash Tests Is Horrifying

The popularity of cars is on the rise in India, which makes these crash tests by Global NCAP a bit of a worry. The first one that grabs our attention is the Tata Nano. Tata made a big deal about the price of the Nano at its launch - about $2000 dollars - making it the cheapest new car on sale. That doesn't allow for much budget for crash protection, though, as you can see from this shocking crash test footage.

At 64kmh (40mph) the front of the car folds right in, violently forcing the dashboard into the cockpit, ramming the steering wheel into the chest and neck of the driver. Considering its price, the Nano's results might not come as too much of a shock, but what is surprising is the performance of previous generation cars we've had on the European market before.

These include the Hyundai i10, Suzuki Alto, Ford Figo (actually a Mk6 Fiesta), and VW Polo. These are manufactured locally to keep costs down, and often without the sort of safety features we take for granted, like airbags...

As a result, all these cars scored zero stars. The Figo, i10 and Alto were found to have structures that 'proved inadequate and collapsed to varying degrees.'

A version of the Polo with airbags did pass, though, scoring four stars - which makes you realise how important the devices really are.