Alarming results have come from the first independent tests of five Indian-built domestic market vehicles.

The Indian versions of several cars have “shown a high-risk of life threatening injuries in road crashes”, and were awarded a zero-star safety rating by the Global New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).

The five cars tested accounted for almost 20 per cent of all new car sales in India in 2013: Ford Figo, Suzuki-Maruti Alto 800, Hyundai i10, Volkswagen Polo and Tata Nano.

The entry level models of all these cars do not include airbags for the Indian market, an exclusion that the ratings agency says will most certainly cost lives. It also appear that the physical structure of the cars is sub-par.

In collisions at 64km/h the Suzuki-Maruti Alto 800’s structure “proved inadequate”, while the Tata Nano and Hyundai i10 “collapsed to varying degrees, resulting in high risks of life-threatening injuries to the occupants,” according to Global NCAP.

“Poor structural integrity and the absence of airbags are putting the lives of Indian consumers at risk. They have a right to know how safe their vehicles are and to expect the same basic levels of safety as standard as customers in other part of the world,” said Max Mosley, former FIA president and now chairman of Global NCAP.

The finding is at odds with tests on international versions of the same cars and many similar superlight vehicles, which are often lauded for their unmatched safety ratings.

The following video demonstrates the impact of neglect and cost-cutting in automotive manufacture;