Automobile giant Toyota, which traditionally builds its image on safety and reliability, suffered an unexpected and extremely heavy blow below the belt. The budget hatchback Toyota Starlet literally fell apart during the latest independent safety tests by Global NCAP, leaving the test site with a shameful result of zero stars for the protection of adult passengers.
The modification subjected to the merciless test is assembled in India and on paper has the basic minimum for a modern car - electronic stability system and two front airbags. However, in the first head-on collision, the mask fell off and dangerous engineering compromises shone. The body structure demonstrated catastrophic instability, with the space around the pedals collapsing like an accordion, and the body frame simply not being able to withstand the generated load.
The nightmare for passengers continued during the side impact simulation. Due to the complete lack of side airbags in this version, the head and chest of the test dummy suffered crushing decibels of kinetic energy. The situation turned out to be so desperate that the organization's experts made an unprecedented decision and directly canceled the planned pole impact test - there was simply no point in risking expensive equipment on a car that had already capitulated.
Things look a little better in the safety of the smallest, where the model managed to squeeze out 29.33 points, equivalent to three stars. But here too, the sensors reported a red flag - in the frontal collision, the head of the doll, simulating a 3-year-old child, broke through the protective zone and hit the interior plastics. The head of Global NCAP, Richard Woods, did not hide his indignation and described the outcome as a real shock to the industry, adding that it was unacceptable for a bestseller of such a rank to offer such a compromised protection of vital organs.