- The Toyota Starlet scored zero stars for adult safety in Global NCAP crash tests
- The Starlet received three stars for child safety with good dummy protection overall
- Frontal and side impact tests showed poor protection of chest, head, and footwell areas
The Toyota Starlet, a rebadged version of the Maruti Suzuki Baleno and the Toyota Glanza popular in India, has earned a zero-star adult safety rating. The result comes from Global NCAP under its Safer Cars for Africa program. Meanwhile, child safety managed three stars; the overall performance underscores gaps in basic crash protection.
Global NCAP subjected the Toyota Starlet to frontal and side impact tests, where it scored zero out of 34 points for adult occupant protection. In the frontal offset crash, the driver's chest saw marginal protection, and the passenger's head received weak safeguarding, with the footwell area deformed. Side barrier tests h revealed poor head and chest protection, a key factor in the zero-star verdict.
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For child protection, the vehicle notched 29.33 out of 49 points, earning three stars. The 18-month-old dummy showed good protection overall, though the three-year-old dummy's head made exposed contact in the side test, costing points there. Both tests used rear-facing child seats with seatbelt installation.
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This Toyota Starlet comes equipped with dual front airbags and electronic stability control as standard, yet lacks side or curtain airbags. Built on Maruti Suzuki's platform at their Gujarat plant, it shares its underpinnings with the Baleno sold in the Indian market, meant for export markets like Africa.
Global NCAP has mentioned that Toyota notified them during the vehicle's transport and evaluation process about upgrades to the South African-market Starlet, including side head and thorax airbags now fitted as standard equipment. The organisation has procured an updated variant through anonymous channels and intends to conduct crash tests shortly. This will allow the safety testing agency to compare the original and revised models.