The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety named the 2011 Hyundai Sonata as the latest vehicle to earn its highest award of Top Safety Pick.
To qualify for a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn a Good rating in front, side, rear and rollover crash tests. It must also be equipped with electronic stability control.
Earning the award became tougher when IIHS added a new roof-strength test that is twice as stringent as the federal requirement. As a result, many of the vehicles that had previously qualified as Top Picks fell off the list in 2010.