Tata Motors' two SUVs (sports utility vehicles) – the new Safari and Harrier – became the first recipients of the 5-star crash test rating performed by the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme (Bharat-NCAP).

While announcing Bharat-NCAP's first-ever 5-star ratings, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari ji, says, "Bharat-NCAP is India's independent, atmanirbhar voice on vehicle safety. It is benchmarked to the best-in-class global standards and the Bharat-NCAP vehicle rating system is designed to advance road safety and vehicle safety standards beyond mandatory regulations. I'm delighted that the first ever vehicles being certified today with the highest achievable 5-star rating, are both from Tata Motors. I congratulate them on award of this coveted certification with the highest possible ratings and for continuing to enrich their legacy of introducing the safest vehicles on Indian roads."

Bharat NCAP had received requests to test 30 models from different automakers ahead of its launch this year.

To be sure, Bharat NCAP is a voluntary programme and not mandatory for Indian carmakers. Under the programme, the base variants of a given model are tested.

BNCAP stands as India's independent advocate for vehicle safety, setting benchmarks to global standards, according to Gadkari.

"Bharat-NCAP is a significant step forward as it provides customers with a credible, objective score to evaluate the safety aspects of various vehicles. Informed customers taking optimal decisions will further foster the rising preference for safer vehicles in the country," says Shailesh Chandra, managing director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd.

"We acknowledge and appreciate the collaborative efforts of the government, regulatory bodies, and the automotive industry in this pursuit. At Tata Motors, safety is at the core of our DNA and we are honoured to win this maiden Bharat-NCAP certification with an exemplary 5-star rating for two of our vehicles," Chandra says.

Built on the OMEGARC architecture, derived from Land Rover’s renowned D8 Platform, the new Safari and Harrier SUVs also come with the highest 5-star G-NCAP rating.

Safari and Harrier were re-launched in October. The Tata Group-owned carmaker has roughly 14% market share in the Indian passenger vehicle segment.

"We expect the sales momentum to pick up as far as retail numbers are concerned. I expect some amount of inventory correction happening by a lot of players in this quarter. We are in a pretty decent place but we will ensure our retails remain higher than wholesales. We didn’t have new products for almost six months. Therefore, our toughest period in PVs is behind us. Now we have a strong portfolio of new launches coming in," Tata Motors group chief financial officer PB Balaji said in a press conference after the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

Tata Motors is also India's largest electric carmaker. Its EV arm, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, plans to assist charge point operators (CPOs) in installing chargers at locations most frequented by its EV owners and share insights on how the chargers are being used to help understand and enhance customer experience.

5 star

Tata Motors' Safari, Harrier SUVs receive first Bharat-NCAP 5-star rating