Foreign Automakers Dominate Insurance Industry's 2016 Safety Picks

DETROIT, Mich. - The insurance industry says it has made it tougher for automakers to get top safety ratings for their vehicles, but many of the car companies have apparently been able to keep up, reports mlive.com

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Thursday released its 2016 Top Safety Pick+ awards, and nearly 50 vehicles met the new, tougher criteria.

IIHS said for cars and trucks to qualify for its 2016 "Top Safety Pick+" award, the highest ranking, they had to have front-end crash prevention systems that included some kind of automatic braking. That meant the vehicle had to stop or slow down without driver intervention before hitting a target in 12 miles per hour or 25 mph.

Cars and trucks that had some kind of front-end crash prevention system that included a warning, but that do not automatically brake, only qualified for the lesser "Top Safety Pick," and not the top rating of Top Safety Pick+.

Still, 48 cars and trucks were named to the Top Safety Pick+ category, and 13 others qualified for the Top Safety Pick.

"We asked auto manufacturers to do more this year to qualify for our safety awards, and they delivered," Adrian Lund, IIHS president, says in the report. "For the first time, a good rating in the challenging small overlap front crash test is a requirement to win, in addition to an available front crash prevention system. How that system rates determines whether a vehicle will earn TOP SAFETY PICK+ or TOP SAFETY PICK."

In both awards categories, vehicles also needed to have good ratings in small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and restraint tests.

Last year IIHS picked 51 Top Safety Pick+ and 48 Top Safety Pick winners.

The 2016 installment so far is dominated by Toyota, with nine Top Safety Pick+ winners, followed by Honda with eight, Volkswagen/Audi with seven and Subaru with six. The Chrysler 200 was the only domestic car to win the Top Safety Pick+ rating.

Without further ado, here are the results. Please discuss them in the comments section.

TOP SAFETY PICK+ 2016

To qualify for 2016 TOP SAFETY PICK+, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention.

All the models listed below have optional front crash prevention systems except for the Scion iA, the Acura RLX, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and all Volvo models, which have standard systems.

Minicar

Scion iA

Small cars

Acura ILX

Lexus CT 200h

Mazda 3

4-door sedan | 4-door hatchback

Subaru Crosstrek

Subaru Impreza

Subaru WRX

Volkswagen Golf

4-door hatchback and SportWagen models

Volkswagen GTI

4-door models

Midsize moderately priced cars

Chrysler 200

Honda Accord 4-door sedan

Honda Accord 2-door coupe

Mazda 6

Nissan Maxima

Subaru Legacy

Subaru Outback

Toyota Camry

Toyota Prius v

Volkswagen Jetta

Volkswagen Passat

Midsize luxury/near luxury cars

Audi A3

BMW 2 series

Lexus ES

Volvo S60

Volvo V60

Large family car

Toyota Avalon

Large luxury cars

Acura RLX

Audi A6 (built after January 2015)

Hyundai Genesis

Infiniti Q70 (does not apply to V8 4WD models)

Lexus RC

Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Volvo S80

Small SUVs

Fiat 500X (built after July 2015)

Honda CR-V

Hyundai Tucson

Mazda CX-5

Mitsubishi Outlander

Subaru Forester

Toyota RAV4

Midsize SUVs

Honda Pilot

Nissan Murano

Midsize luxury SUVs

Acura MDX

Acura RDX

Audi Q5

Lexus NX

Volvo XC60

Volvo XC90

TOP SAFETY PICK 2016

To qualify for 2016 TOP SAFETY PICK, a vehicle must earn good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as a basic rating for front crash prevention.

All the models listed below have optional front crash prevention systems except for the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, which has a standard system.

Small cars

Chevrolet Sonic

Kia Soul

Nissan Sentra

Midsize moderately priced car

Chevrolet Malibu Limited (available only to fleets)

Small SUVs

Buick Encore

Nissan Rogue

Midsize SUVs

Chevrolet Equinox

GMC Terrain

Kia Sorento

Midsize luxury SUV

Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class

Minivans

Honda Odyssey

Kia Sedona

Large pickup

Ford F-150 SuperCrew