NCAP Tests : No star for Ford Aspire

The Ford Aspire sub-4m sedan is sold in several countries under different names. within the South American market, it’s called the Ka+ or the Ka Sedan which is really a touch longer than 4 metres because of a rather different buttocks design. Latin NCAP recently tested a 2020 model of an equivalent with surprising results as this Ford scored 0 stars as per their updated safety rating protocols.

As the name suggests, Latin NCAP crash tests models sold within the South American continent. The Ford Ka+ may be a Brazil-made model and therefore the base variant tested only came with dual front airbags, ABS with EBD and ISOFIX child seat anchorage as standard. Tests conducted by Latin NCAP are a touch more extensive than those we’ve seen from Global NCAP and canopy four aspects: adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, pedestrian protection and safety assists.

According to the newest safety rating protocols, this Ford Ka+ scored poorly across the board. within the front impact test, it offered adequate protection to the front occupants for the top , neck, chest and tibias. While the front footwell was rated unstable, the general bodyshell was rated as stable. However, within the case of a side impact the car showed weak protection for the driver’s chest and also performed poorly within the whiplash test. albeit the Ka+ showed good protection for child occupants within the front and side impact tests, the published score sheet marked the Ford at 9 per cent. It fared better for pedestrian protection with 50 per cent and therefore the lack of safety assists explains why it only scored 7 per cent therein category.

This result’s quite surprise since the 2019 Ford Ka sedan tested by Latin NCAP had scored a 4-star safety rating since it came with side airbags and ESC (electronic stability control as well). Ford has responded positively to those results by promising to introduce side airbags and ESC as standard safety features. The updated rating for the improved Ford Ka is predicted to be published once the carmaker offers those features as standard for all variants sold within the Latin American region.

The India-spec sub-4m Ford Aspire was facelifted in 2018 and this version has not yet been tested by the worldwide NCAP. However, the pre-facelift version had scored 3 stars when tested in 2017. It currently comes with dual airbags and ABS with EBD as standard while the highest variant gets side and curtain airbags. The Aspire is currently priced between Rs 6.09 lakh and Rs 8.64 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).