Those who travel to India are bound to encounter the all-new Mahindra Thar, an Indian-built off-road SUV that could easily be mistaken for the Jeep Wrangler. There's actually some bad blood between the two automakers. Jeep's parent company Fiat Chrysler successfully sued Mahindra when it tried to sell the Roxor off-roader in the US. The Roxor's resemblance to the old CJs is quite obvious and FCA was having none of it. The Thar, however, stands no chance of arriving stateside. Not only did we previously report it's quite cheap at 980,000 rupees (about $13,395), but now the official crash test scores have arrived. And they're better than we expected.
The Global NCAP safety rating agency has awarded the Thar a four-star (out of five) score for adult and child occupant protection. It is now the safest off-roader in India.
"The Thar was tested in its basic safety specification, two airbags, and reached 4 stars for adult and child occupants. The Thar also meets the side impact UN 95 regulation," according to the press release. The Thar comes standard with driver and front passenger airbags, which may not sound like a big deal in the US or Europe, but in some parts of the world safety standards are still catching up.
The report further states the SUV offers adequate driver and good passenger chest protection and its overall structure was rated as stable. The footwell section, however, was determined to be unstable.
In general, head and neck protection is good but nearly everything else below the waist is far less so. The Thar also comes standard with ISOFIX anchorages and three-point belts for all seating positions. The agency also evaluated the Thar's handling in separate testing but the results were less impressive.
Despite having a suspension stabilization system, the Thar's general handling was mediocre, especially during lane changes. Testers strongly recommended for Mahindra to improve chassis tuning. But the Thar is an off-roader and given its four out of five safety rating, it's now guaranteed to be a smash hit in India.