Suzuki's $8,000 Sedan Aces Global NCAP Crash Testing Getting 5 Star Rating

India is one of the last bastions of cheap cars. Econoboxes are still prevalent in the world’s most populous country where Skoda recently launched a $9,300 crossover with ventilated seats. The traditional sedan segment is well-covered as well, and Maruti Suzuki just launched the fourth-generation Dzire (no, that’s not a typo). It stars at the equivalent of $8,000 or roughly six times less than the average new car sold in the United States.

 

When automakers are developing ultra-cheap cars, they must cut corners to bring the costs down. Automakers typically skimp on safety features, resulting in shockingly poor crash test results for cars typically sold in emerging markets. Case in point, the Suzuki Baleno hatchback got zero stars in a Latin NCAP evaluation back in 2021. The smaller Swift hatch only got one star in a Global NCAP test a year later. Now, Maruti Suzuki proves it doesn't necessarily have to be this way as its new Dzire got a full five-star rating.