- The IIHS awarded Top Safety Pick to nine cars and Top Safety Pick+ to ten.
- The Ford Mustang Mach-E, Toyota Tundra and Mazda CX-70 earned Top Safety Pick+.
- The Cadillac Lyriq and Ford Bronco Sport missed out on awards due to different issues.
The IIHS says that 19 new models have ended the year by qualifying for Top Safety Pick awards. Among them are EVs, hybrids, and combustion vehicles. There are trucks, SUVs, and compact cars as well. Let’s dig into the testing and who won what.
Top Safety Pick awards go to cars that manage to score “Good” ratings in the IIHS’ small overlap front, moderate overlap front, and updated side crash tests. In addition, they need to achieve “Good” or “Acceptable” ratings regarding headlights across all trims and pedestrian front crash prevention.
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To that end, the nine winners of the base Top Safety Pick award are the Audi Q8, Ford F-150 crew cab, Ford F-150 extended cab, Infiniti QX80, Kia K4, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Nissan Kicks, Toyota Corolla sedan and Toyota Crown Signia. Notably, some might end up graduating to the next class in the not-too-distant future. That’s because most haven’t gone through the IIHS’ updated moderate overlap front crash test. If they do that successfully, they could end up with the Top Safety Pick + award.
The score of that updated test is what separates normal winners from those with the “Plus.” That said, the 10 winners of the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award are the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Infiniti QX60, Mazda CX-70, Mazda CX-70 PHEV, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Mercedes-Benz GLC, Rivian R1S, Subaru Forester, Toyota Tundra crew cab and Volvo XC90 Plug-In Hybrid. In total, there are now 56 Top Safety Pick award winners for the 2024 model year.
Interestingly, the IIHS says that two cars missed out on awards by failing just one criteria each. The Cadillac Lyriq scored a “Poor” rating when it comes to headlight performance. The Ford Bronco Sport scored just an “Acceptable” rating in the updated side-impact crash test. Both scores disqualify the cars from the Top Safety Pick award.
It’s important to point out that brands make changes throughout the year at times. For instance, the Ford Mustang Mach-E only qualifies for its Top Safety Pick+ award when it’s built after August of 2024. If these ratings heavily influence your buying decisions be sure to consider what trims or build dates actually apply to the award winner in question.
