If you’re shopping for a new car, it’s never been easier to find a safe one.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awarded 90 vehicles with either a Top Safety Pick or a Top Safety Pick+ award for 2021.
“We’ve got a record number of vehicles on the list,” said IIHS president David Harkey. “One of the things folks will see on the list is that there are vehicles in almost every class, so regardless of what you are looking for to meet your transportation needs, there should be a Top Safety Pick winner in one of those classes.”
The winning vehicles combine crashworthiness, crash prevention technology and effective headlights. The “plus” is given to models that have “good” or “acceptable” headlights across all trim levels.
Hyundai Motor Group, which includes the Kia and Genesis brands, received the most 2021 awards overall, with 12 Top Safety Picks and five pluses. Volvo has the most Top Safety Pick+ awards with nine. Other brands, including General Motors, fell flat.
“GM puts out a lot of vehicle models, and for them to only have a couple vehicles on the list was very disappointing,” Harkey said.
See the full list below:
Top Safety Pick+
Small cars:
- Honda Insight
- Mazda 3 sedan
- Mazda 3 hatchback
- Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid
Midsize cars:
- Honda Accord
- Kia K5 built after November 2020
- Mazda 6
- Nissan Altima
- Nissan Maxima built after November 2020
- Subaru Legacy
- Subaru Outback
- Toyota Camry
Midsize luxury cars:
- Acura TLX
- Lexus ES 350
- Lexus IS
- Tesla Model 3
- Volvo S60
- Volvo S60 Recharge
- Volvo V60
- Volvo V60 Recharge
Large luxury cars:
- Audi A6
- Audi A6 allroad
- Audi A7
- Genesis G70
- Genesis G90
- SMALL SUVS
- Mazda CX-3
- Mazda CX-5
- Mazda CX-30 built after September 2020
- Nissan Rogue
- Subaru Forester
- Volvo XC40
Midsize SUVs:
- Ford Explorer
- Hyundai Palisade
- Mazda CX-9
- Subaru Ascent
- Toyota Highlander
Midsize luxury SUVs:
- Acura RDX
- Cadillac XT6
- Hyundai Nexo
- Lexus NX
- Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class with optional front crash prevention
- Volvo XC60
- Volvo XC60 Recharge
- Volvo XC90
- Volvo XC90 Recharge
Large SUVs:
- Audi e-tron
- Audi e-tron Sportback
Minivans:
- Honda Odyssey
- Toyota Sienna
Top Safety Pick
Small cars:
- Honda Civic sedan
- Honda Civic hatchback excluding Type R performance variant
- Hyundai Veloster with optional front crash prevention
- Kia Forte with optional front crash prevention
- Kia Soul with optional front crash prevention
- Nissan Sentra
- Subaru Crosstrek with optional front crash prevention
- Subaru Impreza sedan with optional front crash prevention
- Subaru Impreza wagon with optional front crash prevention
- Subaru WRX with optional front crash prevention
- Toyota Corolla hatchback
- Toyota Corolla sedan
Midsize car:
- Hyundai Sonata
Midsize luxury cars:
- Audi A4
- Audi A5 Sportback
- BMW 3 series
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class with optional front crash prevention
Large car:
- Kia Stinger with optional front crash prevention
Small SUVs:
- Chevrolet Equinox
- Ford Escape
- Honda CR-V
- Hyundai Kona with optional front crash prevention
- Hyundai Tucson with optional front crash preventions
- Hyundai Venue
- Kia Seltos built after August 2020; with optional front crash prevention
- Kia Sportage with optional front crash prevention
- Lexus UX
- Lincoln Corsair
- Toyota C-HR
- Toyota RAV4
- Toyota RAV4 Prime
- Toyota Venza
Midsize SUVs:
- Ford Edge
- Kia Sorento
- Kia Telluride
- Volkswagen Tiguan
Midsize luxury SUVs:
- Lexus RX
- Lincoln Aviator
- Mercedes-Benz GLC with optional front crash prevention
Large SUV:
- Audi Q8
Large pickup:
- Ram 1500 crew cab with optional front crash prevention
