Mr. Rajiv Bajaj Managing Director Bajaj Auto Mumbai‐Pune Road, Akurdi, Pune 411 035 India
Dear Mr Bajaj
Re: Euro NCAP Quadricyle Crash Tests and the Bajaj Qute
8 April 2016
As you will be aware the Bajaj Qute scored one star in Euro NCAP crash tests for Quadricycles released this week. Although the one star awarded to the Qute was a slightly better result than some of the other vehicles tested, Euro NCAP stressed that your product does not perform well. They revealed a likelihood of severe or fatal head and chest injuries. Euro NCAP recommends limiting the speed of the vehicle and also proposes potential improvements (including fitment of a three point inertia real seat belt and an airbag) which Global NCAP strongly encourages Bajaj to adopt as a matter of urgency.
In press coverage of the Qute result I was surprised to read that a spokesman for Bajaj was reportedly ‘delighted’ with the one star score. It is was also very disappointing to read that Bajaj was also reported to be making comparisons between Global NCAP’s tests of Indian passenger cars suggesting that the Qute had performed better than cars with a zero star result. To make such a comparison is misleading and wrong. The Euro NCAP quadricycle test uses a full frontal impact at 50 km/h whereas Global NCAP’s passenger car tests use a 40% overlap impact at 64 km/h. The latter is a much tougher test and should not be used as a relevant comparison.
Global NCAP recognises the efforts of Bajaj to develop products for the global automotive market. However, the issue of quadricycle safety and the lack of appropriate regulatory international standards are very serious issues. It certainly does not help when companies from this sector make exaggerated claims about their products safety or misunderstand the differences between crash tests carried out by independent consumer testing programmes. If Bajaj follows Euro NCAP’s recommendations, Bajaj has the potential to be a world class leader in promoting quadricycles that provide levels of safety equivalent to passenger cars that meet minimum United Nation’s crash test standards. I would respectfully encourage Bajaj to follow this path which is more likely to attract customer support than ignoring the safety deficiencies highlighted by Euro NCAP’s recent tests.
Yours sincerely
David Ward Secretary General
YOUTUBE
