Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, announced Wednesday that its 'Top Safety Pick' award for 2010 model year were given to 27 top-rated vehicles, which includes 19 passenger cars and eight sport utility vehicles. Subaru, Ford Motor Co. (F) and Volkswagen AG (VLKAF.PK,VKW.L) topped the list with safest new vehicles. The Institute has cut the number of top-rated vehicles to 27 for the year compared with 94 in 2009 model year, as it requires good performance in a roof-strength test aimed at protecting passengers in rollover crashes. It is said that this is the second time the Institute has tightened criteria since announcing the first recipients in 2005.
The Insurance Institute noted that the first rollover ratings were released in March and the addition of this new criterion recognizes manufacturers with vehicles that provide good protection in rollovers. The vehicles rated good have roofs more than twice as strong as the current federal standard requirements and the Institute estimates such roofs to reduce the risk of serious and fatal injury in single-vehicle rollovers by about 50%, compared with roofs meeting the minimum requirement. Top Safety Pick identifies vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, rear, and now rollover crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. The winners are also required to have electronic stability control, which research shows significantly reduces crash risk. Accordingly, the Institute said that Subaru, a unit of Fuji Heavy Industries, is the only manufacturer with a winner in all 4 vehicle classes in which it competes and earns 5 awards for 2010. Ford Motor Co. and its Volvo (VOLVY.PK) unit have won six awards and German automaker Volkswagen and its unit Audi earned five awards. The Institute specified that Chrysler Group LLC won four awards as a result of its continuing recent trend of improving the crashworthiness of its vehicles. Two new small cars, the Nissan Cube and Kia Soul also join the Top Safety Pick list for 2010. Most notably, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) did not win any award. General Motors Corp.(GMGMQ.PK)'s Buick LaCrosse and Chevrolet Malibu are also on the list.
Buick LaCrosse, Ford Taurus, Lincoln MKS and Volvo S80 are declared by IIHS as the safety models for large cars, Honda Civic, Kia Soul, Nissan Cube, Subaru Impreza, and Volkswagen Golf for small car models.
For midsize cars, Audi A3, Chevrolet Malibu, Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Mercedes C class, Subaru Legacy, Subaru Outback, Volkswagen Jetta sedan, Volkswagen Passat sedan, and Volvo C30 are announced as the safety picks.
For the midsize SUVs, Dodge Journey, Subaru Tribeca, Volvo XC60, Volvo XC90 have been picked, and for small SUVs, Honda Element, Jeep Patriot, Subaru Forester, and Volkswagen Tiguan have been picked by IIHS as safety models for 2010.
Institute president Adrian Lund said, "With the addition of our new roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all 4 of the most common kinds of crashes. Consumers can use this list to zero in on the vehicles that are on the top rung for safety."
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