ARLINGTON, VA — Sixty-six vehicles earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s TOP SAFETY PICK award for 2011 (list follows), including 40 cars, 25 SUVs, and a minivan. TOP SAFETY PICK recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, rollover, and rear crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. Winners also must have available electronic stability control, a crash avoidance feature that significantly reduces crash risk. The ratings help consumers pick vehicles that offer a higher level of protection than federal safety standards require.
Last year the Institute toughened criteria for TOP SAFETY PICK by adding a requirement that all qualifiers must earn a good rating for performance in a roof strength test to assess protection in a rollover crash. The move sharply narrowed the initial field of 2010 winners. At the beginning of the 2010 model year, only 27 vehicles qualified for the award, but the number grew to 58 as auto manufacturers reworked existing designs and introduced new models. Now another 10 vehicles join the winners’ list for 2011. Two discontinued models drop off.
Front-runners: Hyundai/Kia and Volkswagen/Audi each have 9 winners for 2011. Next in line with 8 awards each are General Motors, Ford/Lincoln, and Toyota/Lexus/Scion. Subaru is the only manufacturer with a winner in all the vehicle classes in which it competes. Subaru earns 5 awards for 2011.
“Safety is a priority among this crop of winners,” Lund says. “From the start these manufacturers set out to design vehicles that would earn TOP SAFETY PICK, even though we’ve made it harder to win.”
The redesigned Volkswagen Touareg is the only large SUV to earn TOP SAFETY PICK for 2011. The Institute doesn’t normally evaluate SUVs this large, but Volkswagen requested crash tests to demonstrate the Touareg’s crashworthiness.
All 66 Winners
Large cars
- Buick LaCrosse, Regal
- BMW 5 series
- Cadillac CTS
- Ford Taurus
- Hyundai Genesis
- Infiniti M
- Lincoln MKS
- Mercedes E class sedan
- Mercedes E class coupe
- Toyota Avalon
- Volvo S80
- Audi A3, A4
- Chevrolet Malibu
- Chrysler 200
- Dodge Avenger
- Ford Fusion
- Hyundai Sonata
- Kia Optima
- Lincoln MKZ
- Mercedes C class
- Subaru Legacy, Outback
- Volkswagen Jetta sedan
- Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen
- Volvo C30
- Chevrolet Cruze
- Honda Civic
- Kia Forte, Soul
- Mitsubishi Lancer
- Nissan Cube
- Scion tC, xB
- Subaru Impreza
- Toyota Corolla
- Volkswagen Golf, GTI
- Ford Fiesta
- Toyota Sienna
- Volkswagen Touareg
- Audi Q5
- Cadillac SRX
- Chevrolet Equinox
- Dodge Journey
- Ford Explorer, Flex
- GMC Terrain
- Hyundai Santa Fe
- Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Kia Sorento
- Lexus RX
- Lincoln MKT
- Mercedes GLK
- Subaru Tribeca
- Toyota Highlander, Venza
- Volvo XC60, XC90
- Honda Element
- Hyundai Tucson
- Jeep Patriot
- Kia Sportage
- Subaru Forester
- Volkswagen Tiguan
