WASHINGTON — Dozens of new cars and trucks, led by Ford Motor Co. and its Volvo subsidiary, made the insurance industry’s annual list of the safest vehicles, helped by the growing adoption of anti-rollover technology.
For the 2009 model year, Ford and Volvo have 16 vehicles on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s list of the safest cars, followed by Honda Motor Co. with 13 vehicles, the institute said today.
Seventy-two cars, trucks and SUVs received the top safety pick designation for the 2009 model year, more than double the number of vehicles in 2008 and three times the number in 2007.
“No matter what kind of vehicle buyers may be considering, now they can walk into just about any dealership and find one that affords the best overall protection in serious crashes,” said institute president Adrian Lund.
The selected vehicles are tops in protecting people in front, side and rear crash tests based on institute evaluations during the year. The vehicles are required to have electronic stability control, or ESC, to qualify for the award.
Ford’s top performers include the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan midsize cars with optional ESC, the Ford F-150 pickup, Ford Edge and Ford Flex midsize sport utility vehicles and the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner small SUV. It also includes the Mazda Tribute, which has the same underpinnings as the Escape and Mariner.
Honda and its Acura unit had vehicles in nearly every category, including top-sellers such as the Honda Accord, the Honda Civic 4-door with optional ESC, and the Acura MDX and RDX midsize SUVs, and the Honda Fit with optional ESC. The Fit is the first mini car to earn the safety award.
Volkswagen AG and its Audi brand had nine vehicles on the list, including the Volkswagen Jetta and Passat and the Audi A3, A4 and A6.
General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. both had eight vehicles on the list. GM’s included the Cadillac CTS and the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook large SUVs.
Toyota’s top performers were the Toyota Corolla with optional ESC, Toyota RAV4, Toyota Tacoma, Toyota Tundra and Scion xB.
The institute said Chrysler LLC was the only major automaker that did not receive a single award. They said Chrysler could have picked up five awards if the head restraints had been improved in the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring, the Sebring convertible and the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country.
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