Responding to the petitions that demand to make vehicles safer in Assam, the Guwahati High Court has ordered to ban sales and registration of all small cars, weighing below 1500kgs, that fail to meet crash and safety tests norms in the state. The car models that are banned include Maruti Suzuki Alto, Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai i10, Hyundai EON and the newly launched Honda Jazz among others. The ban won’t impact SUVs and other higher capacity vehicles that can absorb the impact of a crash.
"The Centre is directed not to permit the auto manufacturers to release and sell the small four-wheelers with a mass up to 1,500 kg and quadricycles without putting them to crash test and emission test," the court said.
Since the North East India accounts 12% of the total car sales in the country, the interim ban order will certainly impact the annual sales target of all car manufacturers that are already struggling for last 2-3 years.The petition said that the Global NCAP-like crash tests are required for the cars sold in the Northeast state to ensure that the vehicle is safe to be driven around on hilly terrains.
As of now, all the cars in India have to pass only the front crash test norms aka steering impact test. Though more stringent offset crash tests are under consideration and would start from the year 2017 onwards.
Whether the ban remains on these cars or not, will get clear in the next hearing that is scheduled for August 27, 2015. Check out this space for more update on this matter.
