Ford Receives Most Awards for Vehicle Safety
Nov. 19, 2009 – The Ford Motor Company beat out other domestic and foreign auto manufacturers in garnering “Top Safety Pick” awards for new vehicles, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced.
Ford and its subsidiary, Volvo, received a total of six awards for 2010 models from the non-profit highway safety institute. Ford’s Taurus and Lincoln MKS sedans received top safety marks along with subsidiary Volvo’s XC60 and XC90 sport utility vehicles, S80 sedan and C30 two-door hatchback. The organization bestowed a total of 27 “Top safety Pick” awards on domestic and foreign auto manufacturers.
Winning vehicles were chosen based on their ability to protect motorists and passengers front-, rear- and side-impact crashes. Vehicles also must have electronic stability control systems and receive the highest possible score for roof strength to qualify for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety awards.
The addition of roof-strength testing meant the institute bestowed fewer “Top Safety Pick” awards this year. Some 72 vehicles received the top award last year.
“With the addition of our roof strength evaluation, our crash test results now cover all four of the most common kinds of crashes,” said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “Consumers can use this list to zero in on the vehicles that are on the top rung for safety.”
Japanese auto manufacturer Subaru tied Germany’s Volkswagen with the second-highest number of awards with five vehicles earning “Top Safety Pick” designation. The Subaru Legacy, Outback and Impreza sedans and Tribeca and Forester sport utility vehicles won top safety marks. Subaru was the only auto manufacturer to win awards in all vehicle classes in which it competes.
A Subaru official cited the company’s boxer engine design as a main reason for its high safety marks. Because a boxer engine has horizontally opposed cylinders, it has a lower profile and a lower center of gravity than traditional counterparts, such as V-6 engines. The lower center of gravity makes Subaru models handle well, and the engine tends to go beneath instead of into passengers during front-end collisions, according to the company representative.
Germany’s Volkswagen and its subsidiary, Audi, received safety awards for the Volkswagen Golf, Jetta and Passat sedans and Tiguan sport utility vehicle and the Audi A3 sedan.
Chrysler received the second most awards among U.S. auto manufacturers with the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger sedans with optional electronic stability control, the Jeep Patriot with optional side air bags and midsize Dodge Journey sport utility vehicle getting top marks.
General Motors received awards for the Chevrolet Malibu and Buick LaCrosse sedans. Honda earned awards for its Civic sedan with option electronic stability control and Honda Element. The Kia Soul, Mercedes C Class sedan and Nissan Cube also won “top Safety Pick” awards.
Auto manufacturers BMW, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Toyota did not have any vehicles qualify for top awards.