More Foreign Car Models Win Top Safety Awards In U.S.

(RTTNews) - The Big three domestic automakers came a cropper and their Japanese and European counterparts took the spotlight in an assessment made concerning their safety on road by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The IIHS has found that nearly 50 vehicles met tougher criteria for 2016 to clinch the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's TOP SAFETY PICK+ award.

They earned good ratings in all five IIHS crashworthiness evaluations and an advanced or higher rating for front crash prevention. An additional 13 models qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK.

Toyota led manufacturers with nine 2016 TOP SAFETY PICK+ winners, including the popular Camry midsize car. Honda picked up eight TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards and one TOP SAFETY PICK.

Volkswagen/Audi has seven plus-award winners. Six Subaru models qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK+.

The Chrysler 200 is the only domestic model to qualify for a 2016 TOP SAFETY PICK+ award. One other vehicle from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, the Fiat 500X, earns the Institute's highest award for 2016.

Ford has just one winning model this year, the F-150 SuperCrew, which earns TOP SAFETY PICK. The large pickup is the only Ford with a good small overlap rating.

Elaborating the criteria and methodology, Adrian Lund, IIHS president, said, "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."

The baseline requirements for both awards are good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as a standard or optional front crash prevention system.

The 48 winners of the "plus" award have a superior- or advanced-rated front crash prevention system with automatic braking capabilities. These vehicles must stop or slow down without driver intervention before hitting a target in tests at 12 mph, 25 mph or both.

Models with a basic-rated front crash prevention system, which typically only issues a warning and doesn't brake, qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK.