The Numbers

Units Sold vs Safety Chart
Units sold in October 2019 versus their safety rating

The ratings provided here are for adult occupants. All the cars listed here cost under Rs. 10 lakhs.
The results speak for themselves, here, the cars preferred by customers are not safe enough. The most popular safety rating in terms of sales seems to be two. It is then followed by three, then four. The surprise was that zero-rated cars came next. This is mostly because of the fact that the Maruti Eeco, which really is not a consumer car, sold some 10,000 odd units.

Then we have cars which are rated four stars, as the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Then comes the 1-star rated cars. Sadly, cars rated 5-stars are very limited in this price range. In fact, only the Tata Nexon and Toyota Vios (Yaris’ Thailand version as tested by ASEAN NCAP) were rated 5 on 5. The basic takeaway is that never buy cars without airbags. Cars without airbags are very unsafe for occupants.