Maruti Suzuki has introduced six airbags as standard across all variants of the Ertiga and Baleno. This update is accompanied by a marginal price increase: the Ertiga increases by 1.4% and the Baleno by 0.5%. The move reflects a broader industry trend and Maruti Suzuki’s plan to equip all passenger vehicles with six airbags by the end of the year.
Six Airbags & Incremental Safety
The update means both the Ertiga and Baleno now include dual front airbags, side airbags, and curtain airbags as standard. For the Ertiga, this arrives as part of a package also containing ABS with electronic brake-force distribution, electronic stability control, and ISOFIX child seat anchors on all trims. The six-airbag system aims to reduce injuries in frontal and side collisions. The Baleno was recently rated four stars for adult safety and three stars for child safety at BNCAP.
Other models in Maruti’s passenger lineup, including the Alto K10, WagonR, Dzire, Celerio, Grand Vitara, Swift, Jimny, Eeco, Brezza, and Invicto, have adopted the same six airbags. These changes were necessary to somewhat stem Maruti’s loss of market share to brands offering safer cars such as Tata, Mahindra & Skoda-VW.
Ertiga’s Bodyshell Still Unstable
A high proportion of Ertiga units find service as taxis in India, where safety is often the last priority. The inclusion of six airbags marks an improvement for passengers in such vehicles, particularly in dense city environments where lower-speed collisions are more frequent. Side and curtain airbags are designed to address side impacts, which are common in urban driving scenarios. This update is widely seen in the industry as overdue, given the role of the Ertiga as a taxi car. The Dzire scoring 5 stars a few months ago only makes Maruti’s responsibility in keeping people safe by making safer taxis more apparent.
The Ertiga’s bodyshell was rated as unstable, and this has not changed with this update. Previous NCAP crash tests have repeatedly pointed out that the Ertiga’s chassis has poor rigidity. Structural integrity, especially at higher speeds, has always been poor for Maruti cars, with the rare exception of the Dzire, the Brezza & Grand Vitara. The standardisation of airbags cannot compensate for the limitations of an underlying structure that has repeatedly been tested as unsafe, especially as this car is used on the highway as an inter-city taxi.
Price Bump
Government regulations are set to require six airbags in passenger vehicles starting in October 2025. Maruti Suzuki’s move meets this mandate ahead of schedule. Prices have increased: the Ertiga now ranges from ₹8.96 lakh to ₹13.25 Lakh, while the Baleno sits between ₹6.70 Lakh and ₹9.92 Lakh, ex-showroom.
For now, the focus has been on active safety features, with passive safety still remaining a huge question mark. Having 6 airbags as standard does not make a car safe, as demonstrated by the Kia Carens’ 3-star safety rating despite having 6 airbags as standard.
