Toyota Wins Car Safety Ratings

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) on Thursday released its 10th annual list of top safety picks for model year 2016 vehicles, and the manufacturer with the most top picks is Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM), with nine models on the Top Safety Pick+ list, including its Scion and Lexus brands.

For the first time, model year 2016’s top-rated vehicles were required to achieve a good rating on the small overlap front crash test that simulates a left-front collision with a stationary object like a tree or telephone pole. This test has been a stumbling block since IIHS introduced it in 2012.

According to the IIHS, the base requirements to be named a Top Safety Pick are good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, and a standard or optional front crash prevention system:

The 48 winners of the ‘Top Safety Pick+’ award also must 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.

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The Top Safety Pick+ list includes 48 vehicles, and the Top Safety Pick list includes an additional 13 vehicles. Last year, 71 vehicles made the initial versions of the lists, and by the end of the year the total for both lists grew to 99, as IIHS adds top performers to the lists as test results are released throughout the year.

The nine Top Safety Pick+ vehicles from Toyota include the Scion iA, the Lexus CT 200h, the Camry, the Prius v, the Lexus ES, the Avalon, the Lexus RC, the RAV4 and the Lexus NX.

Only one Detroit Three vehicle made the “plus” list: the Chrysler 200 from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (NYSE: FCAU). Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) F-150 SuperCrew pickup was the only Detroit Three vehicle to make the Top Safety Pick list. General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) did not place a vehicle on either list.
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