Choices expand for safety-conscious consumers, as 90 vehicles earn IIHS awards
Another 41 vehicles earn TOP SAFETY PICK (without the plus), bringing the total number of 2021 award winners to 90, compared with 64 in February 2020.
ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is recognizing 49 models for providing the highest level of safety — more than double the number that earned the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award last year.
Another 41 vehicles earn TOP SAFETY PICK (without the plus), bringing the total number of 2021 award winners to 90, compared with 64 in February 2020.
“With these awards, we want to make it easy for consumers to find vehicles that provide good protection in crashes, sufficient lighting and effective front crash protection,” IIHS President David Harkey says. “Manufacturers have stepped up to meet the challenge, and the list of great options has grown to an impressive size this year.”
Both awards require good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness tests — driver- and passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints. Award winners must be available with front crash prevention that earns a superior or advanced rating in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations. Last but not least, TOP SAFETY PICK winners must be available with good or acceptable headlights. The “plus” designation is given to models that have good or acceptable headlights across all trim levels and packages.
Of all manufacturers, Hyundai Motor Group, including the Hyundai, Kia and Genesis brands, has the most 2021 awards — 12 regular TOP SAFETY PICKs and five pluses. Volvo has the most TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards with nine.
Only one automaker, Mitsubishi, has failed to earn a single award so far. The low number of awards for General Motors — one TOP SAFETY PICK and one TOP SAFETY PICK+ — is striking for such a large manufacturer.
This year two minivans, the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna, qualify for the TOP SAFETY PICK+ award. A pickup truck, the Ram 1500 crew cab, qualifies for TOP SAFETY PICK and is the only winner from Stellantis, the company created by the recent merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot. A year ago, there were no minivans or pickups in the winner’s circle.
Headlight improvements
IIHS has been using a two-tier award system since 2013 as a way to phase in new requirements that may be tough for all manufacturers to meet immediately. Over the years, IIHS has used TOP SAFETY PICK+ to introduce new crash tests and crash avoidance criteria before making them part of the requirements for the regular TOP SAFETY PICK award.
Headlight ratings were first incorporated into TOP SAFETY PICK+ criteria for the 2017 award year. To qualify for the highest award, vehicles had to at least have good or acceptable headlights available as an option. The following year, that requirement became part of the base award.
As manufacturers showed they could produce headlights with better lighting and less glare, IIHS decided to encourage them to make this improved equipment standard. Starting in 2020, only vehicles with good or acceptable headlights across the board could earn TOP SAFETY PICK+.
The strategy seems to be working. A year ago, only 23 vehicles qualified for the higher-tier award. Today, the number has more than doubled, and the majority of awards handed out for 2021 models include the plus sign.
Front crash prevention
Vehicles don’t have to have front crash prevention as standard equipment to qualify for either award, but a voluntary manufacturer commitment is helping on that front. Twenty automakers have signed the pledge to equip at least 95 percent of vehicles they make with vehicle-to-vehicle automatic emergency braking beginning in the 2022-23 production year.
All 49 TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners and 31 TOP SAFETY PICK winners have standard systems that meet the vehicle-to-vehicle requirement. Forty-eight of the TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners and 26 of the TOP SAFETY PICK winners also meet the pedestrian crash prevention criterion with their standard systems. The others qualify based on optional equipment.
Near misses
The extensive list of criteria for both awards means many vehicles check all boxes but one. Twelve vehicles are only lacking good or acceptable headlights, while seven don’t have pedestrian crash prevention that earns a superior or advanced rating. Only five fall short on crashworthiness. All five lack a good rating in the passenger-side small overlap front test.
Full list of winners
TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. They also have an advanced or superior rating for available front crash prevention — in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations — and have acceptable or good headlights standard.
Small cars
Honda Insight
Mazda 3 hatchback
Mazda 3 sedan
Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid
Midsize cars
Honda Accord
Kia K5 (built after November 2020)
Mazda 6
Nissan Altima
Nissan Maxima (built after November 2020)
Subaru Legacy
Subaru Outback
Toyota Camry
Midsize luxury cars
Acura TLX
Lexus ES 350
Lexus IS
Tesla Model 3
Volvo S60
Volvo S60 Recharge
Volvo V60
Volvo V60 Recharge
Large luxury cars
Audi A6
Audi A6 allroad
Audi A7
Genesis G70
Genesis G90
Small SUVs
Mazda CX-3
Mazda CX-5
Mazda CX-30 (built after September 2020)
Nissan Rogue
Subaru Forester
Volvo XC40
Midsize SUVs
Ford Explorer
Hyundai Palisade
Mazda CX-9
Subaru Ascent
Toyota Highlander
Midsize luxury SUVs
Acura RDX
Cadillac XT6
Hyundai Nexo
Lexus NX
Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class (with optional front crash prevention)
Volvo XC60
Volvo XC60 Recharge
Volvo XC90
Volco XC90 Recharge
Large SUVs
Audi e-tron
Audi e-tron Sportback
Minivans
Honda Odyssey
Toyota Sienna
TOP SAFETY PICK winners earn good ratings in the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. They also have an advanced or superior rating for available front crash prevention — in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations — and have acceptable or good headlights available, but not standard. Vehicles qualify for the award only when equipped with those headlights.
Small cars
Honda Civic hatchback (excluding Type R performance variant)
Honda Civic sedan
Hyundai Veloster (with optional front crash prevention)
Kia Forte (with optional front crash prevention)
Kia Soul (with optional front crash prevention)
Nissan Sentra
Subaru Crosstrek (with optional front crash prevention)
Subaru Impreza sedan (with optional front crash prevention)
Subaru Impreza wagon (with optional front crash prevention)
Subaru WRX (with optional front crash prevention)
Toyota Corolla hatchback
Toyota Corolla sedan
Midsize car
Hyundai Sonata
Midsize luxury cars
Audi A4
Audi A5 Sportback
BMW 3 series
Mercedes-Benz C-Class (with optional front crash prevention)
Large car
Kia Stinger (with optional front crash prevention)
Small SUVs
Chevrolet Equinox
Ford Escape
Honda CR-V
Hyundai Kona (with optional front crash prevention)
Hyundai Tucson (with optional front crash prevention)
Hyundai Venue
Kia Seltos (built after August 2020; wiht optional front crash prevention)
Kia Sportage (with optional front crash prevention)
Lexus UX
Lincoln Corsair
Toyota C-HR
Toyota RAV4
Toyota RAV4 Prime
Toyota Venza
Midsize SUVs
Ford Edge
Kia Sorento
Kia Telluride
Volkswagen Tiguan
Midsize luxury SUVs
Lexus RX
Lincoln Aviator
Mercedes-Benz GLC (with optional front crash prevention)
Large SUV
Audi Q8
Large pickup
Ram 1500 crew cab (with optional front crash prevention)
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VNR: Wed. 2/24/2021, 10:30-11 a.m. ET; repeat 1:30-2 p.m. ET (KU) GALAXY 17
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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated
to reducing the losses — deaths, injuries and property damage — from motor vehicle crashes. IIHS is wholly supported by
auto insurers.
Attachments
Joe Young Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 504-641-0491 [email protected]