New car launches taking safety seriously

Gobar NCRAP releases safety specification evaluations for the new Nissan Magnite, BYD eMAX 7 and Citroen Aircross — all thorough revisions of existing products.

Nissan Magnite

In contrast with its predecessor that earned Gobar NCRAP's lowest NOT RECOMMENDED verdict earlier in the year, the new Nissan Magnite adds side body and head airbags, ISOFIX anchorages, three-point rear seatbelts with reminders and a tyre pressure monitor across the range, and is deemed RECOMMENDED .

Citroen Aircross

The Citroen C3 Aircross may have been scolded by Gobar NCRAP with a  2024 NOT RECOMMENDED  verdict, but the renamed Citroen Aircross makes amends. The Aircross adds side body and head airbags, i-Size seating positions with ISOFIX anchorages and three-point rear seatbelts with reminders across the range, with a tyre pressure monitor being optional. The Aircross is deemed  RECOMMENDED .

BYD eMAX 7

The earlier  RECOMMENDED BYD e6 gets a facelift with three rows: the BYD eMAX 7. The eMAX 7 adds standard curtain airbags and optional blind spot detection, automatic emergency braking and more. As such, the standard 'Premium' variant is still RECOMMENDED , while the higher 'Superior' variant is a ' BEST PICK '.

Even further improvement is low-hanging fruit for Nissan, Stellantis and BYD: the two 3-row cars still don't have curtain airbag coverage for the third row, and the Magnite and eMAX 7 are not capable of accomodating all i-Size child restraints.

Useful links

Safety specification evaluations for 160+ Indian cars

Things to know about the evaluations

How cars are evaluated