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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
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