India made Etios Liva, GO+ crash tested in South Africa

The Etios Liva managed to pass the test with a decent score, while the GO+ raised a few more questions on Datsun’s safety standards.

Global New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) has crash tested five small cars in South Africa, two of which are manufactured in India.

The cars in question are Toyota Etios Liva and Datsun GO+, both of which are sold here as well. Etios Liva managed to score a 4-star rating in the NCAP crash test, which was conducted at a speed of 64km/h. The car was certified as stable in the test with a good overall protection for adult passengers. However, the Liva could only manage 3 stars when it comes to child safety.

On the other hand, Nissan’s low-cost Datsun GO+ failed the test, managing just a one star rating. The sub-compact MPV’s steering recorded high compression to the chest area of the crash test dummy, as per NCAP reports. The child occupant safety score was slightly better at 2 stars, but still pretty unsafe as per modern standards.

A few years back, Global NCAP performed a similar crash test in India, where the Datsun GO (basically a shorter GO+) scored a dismal score of zero stars. In fact, Global NCAP had declared the car’s bodyshell as unstable, and had even recommended Nissan to withdraw such an unsafe car from the market.

A thing worth noting is that the crash tested Etios Liva was equipped with ABS, dual front airbags and ISOFIX mounts for child seats as standard. On the other hand, the GO+ tested only had a driver side airbag - as other safety gear isn’t offered on the South Africa spec GO+, similar to how it is in India.