Upcoming Kia Sonet Facelift and Tata Punch tested by Bharat NCAP

Much has been spoken about the Bharat NCAP safety norms, which will now be the new standards for crash test ratings for cars produced and sold in India. It seems that the Indian Government is soon going to give an official green signal to Bharat NCAP, as its official website has gone live. Going by the crash test images uploaded on the website, it seems that the Kia Sonet Facelift and Tata Punch are the first two cars tested under the new Bharat NCAP crash test norms.

Nitin Gadkari, the minister of road transport and highways, announced the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat NCAP) earlier this year. The Bharat NCAP will be the new organization to test the safety ratings of a car and its performance under the impact of different types of crashes.

While the website of Bharat NCAP has gone live with a few pictures of cars on test, the organization is yet to reveal the crash test ratings of the cars which it has reportedly tested till now. The images on the website reveal that the cars tested by Bharat NCAP include the base-spec HTE variant of the Kia Sonet Facelift and a Tata Punch with sunroof and side and curtain airbags.

Kia has already announced that it will be launching the facelifted version of the Sonet compact SUV on 14th December 2023. We expect that the base-spec Sonet HTE seen in images uploaded by Bharat NCAP is the new facelifted version, and Kia might launch the Sonet facelift as the first car tested by Global NCAP, while also revealing the crash test ratings alongside the product launch.

In addition to the Kia Sonet HTE, another car which has been reportedly tested by Bharat NCAP is the Tata Punch, which, unlike the Sonet, has already been tested by Global NCAP, earning a commendable 5-star crash test rating. However, the Punch tested by Global NCAP in 2021 missed out on the sunroof and side and curtain airbags, as the model shown in Bharat NCAP crash test ratings.

Until now, the responsibility for the same was volunteered by Global NCAP, which has tested several cars made in India under its “Safer Cars for India” campaign. The new Bharat NCAP crash test ratings are reportedly set to become mandatory for cars made and sold in India. This new programme will also be replacing the “Safer Cars for India” programme conducted by Global NCAP for a decade.