2011 Mini Countryman Earns Top Safety Pick Designation

The Countryman is the first Mini model to get the award. In the past, the Mini Cooper hardtop earned scores of Acceptable in side crash tests and roof-strength tests.

The federal government has not yet tested any Mini model under its new crash-test parameters.

The results from IIHS should provide a slight boost to Mini’s mainstream appeal. While Mini has enjoyed niche success, many potential buyers have been put off by the cars’ diminutive size, which some correlate to being unsafe. The Top Safety Pick designation should help with that, along with the overall larger size of the Countryman.

Last month, the new Countryman was the second-best-selling Mini, registering sales of 886 units. The traditional Cooper hardtop sold 1,931 units, and the Clubman wagon 427 units.