Six Models Earn Top Crash-Test Accolades From IIHS
If you’re looking for an exceptionally safe car, there are six more models you should consider, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The Hyundai Elantra and Sonata, Kia K4, Nissan Murano, and Toyota bZ4X and Prius all won the IIHS’s highest Top Safety Pick+ award for the 2025 model year.
Related: IIHS Crash-Tests 11 More Vehicles, 3 Earn Top Safety Pick+ Awards
What does that mean? All Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ vehicles have to achieve a rating of good in the agency’s small overlap front crash test and the updated version of its side crash test, as well as score either good or acceptable in its pedestrian front crash prevention and headlight evaluations. To win a Top Safety Pick+ award, the vehicle has to achieve at least an acceptable rating in the IIHS’s updated moderate overlap front crash test. The IIHS uses these four ratings for all of its tests: good, acceptable, marginal and poor.
While all of these awards are for 2025 models, automakers frequently make revisions to vehicles in the middle of a model year’s production, and some of these revisions can make or break whether they win an IIHS award. As such, only Elantras built after October 2024, Sonatas built after November 2024 and K4s built after January 2025 qualify as Top Safety Pick+ winners, as that was when Hyundai and Kia beefed up rear-occupant protection on those vehicles. Likewise, only bZ4Xs built after December 2024 get a Top Safety Pick+ award, as that’s when Toyota swapped out the headlights on its XLE trim to ones that rate good in the IIHS’s headlight evaluations.
Which New Cars Didn’t Get IIHS Awards?
Alongside its new award winners, the IIHS announced its ratings for the 2025 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport and 2025 Volkswagen Taos, none of which won an award this time.
The Bronco only scored as marginal in moderate overlap testing as well as in evaluations of its pedestrian front crash prevention system and headlights. The institute concluded that rear passengers face an increased risk of chest injuries.
The Bronco Sport also scored marginal in moderate overlap testing due to the increased risk of chest, neck and head injuries as well as an increased risk of internal injury for rear occupants due to the lap belt riding up the abdomen on the crash-test dummy. It only achieved an acceptable rating in the IIHS’s updated side crash test due the driver’s increased risk of pelvis injuries.
The Taos got marginal ratings for its moderate overlap front test, pedestrian crash avoidance system and some of its trims’ headlamps, and it only earned an acceptable rating in the small overlap front crash test. The safety cage designed to protect passengers did not hold up well in testing, and the group’s analysis of its crash-test dummies showed an increased risk of chest injuries for rear passengers in the moderate overlap crash test. The Taos also had the only poor ratings in this group, earning the rating for its forward collision avoidance system and seat belt reminders.
Full crash-test results can be found on the IIHS website.
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