The Indian government is all set to make airbags a compulsory fitment in all vehicles from April 2019, a full six months ahead of earlier date of October 2019. Reports suggest that the union transport ministry has already made a draft for the same and will be following up with notification and updates about the same. All new car models, launched after the date of October 2017, will be required to have compulsory airbags across all trim variants. The present line-up of cars in India were given a time period of two years to meet the updated crash test norms, which include the compulsory airbags.
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All the new cars launched after October 2017 will have to comply with the new crash test (side and frontal) norms. Car manufacturers in India already have a deadline of April 2020 to migrate to BS VI emission norms against an earlier deadline of April 2023. In all probability, this new decision, if it is ratified, will only serve to increase further headache for four wheeler manufacturers who will now have to deal with the dual blow of meeting BS VI emission norms and making cars which conform to the new crash test norms.
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The new crash test norms will require automakers to make quite a few changes to the overall structure of the cars. The deadline will be tougher to meet for small cars which are nowhere near meeting the new crash test norms. Making cars that meet the new crash test norms will also mean that the prices will go up too. This means further re-working of the business plan for all manufacturers as well.
