In what is a massive step for Hyundai India in the safety department, the 2023 Verna is the latest model to go through the Global NCAP safety tests and it cleared them with a five-star rating! This is the first made-in-India Hyundai model to achieve this feat and the third sedan in its segment to get such a high safety rating.
Diving deeper into the safety test, the new Verna not only has achieved five stars in adult occupant protection, but child occupant protection as well, scoring 28.18 out of 34 points in for the former and 42 out of 49 points for the latter. The sedan offered good protection for the front occupants’ head and necks in the frontal impact tests, while driver chest protection was marginal and knee protection was marginal too. For the side pole tests, there was good protection for the head, pelvis and abdomen and the curtain airbags met fitment requirements with good protection to the head and pelvis. That being said, GNCAP rated the body shell and footwell area as unstable and incapable of withstanding further loadings.
In the child occupant protection tests, with the three-year-old and 18-month-old child dummies placed in rearward-facing child seats, the Verna offered full protection in frontal and side impact protection. It also scored brownie points for having three-point seatbelts for the rear occupants.
Helping the Hyundai Verna achieve this feat is of course the oodles of standard safety kit onboard which includes six airbags, electronic stability control, hill start assist, ISOFIX child seat mounts, ABS with EBD, and rear parking sensors. Higher variants allow the likes of ADAS, front parking sensors, and an electronic parking brake to be added to the mix.
This achievement is a significant milestone for Hyundai in India as it is evidence of a marked step in safety measures from the carmaker, which we hope carries forwards for the rest of their lineup as well. The Hyundai Verna currently starts at Rs 10.97 lakh ex-showroom, with rivals including the Volkswagen Virtus, Skoda Slavia, Honda City and Maruti Suzuki Ciaz.
