Recently, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) officially announced the list of "TOP Safety PICK+" and "TOP Safety PICK" models in 2022. Friends who know crash testing generally know that IIHS is a third-party non-profit organization funded by auto insurance companies that guarantees absolute objectivity, authority and impartiality. The IIHS crash test has very high safety requirements for cars and can be said to be one of the most stringent crash tests in the world. So what are the highlights of the latest annual selection?
▇ IIHS test standards will become more and more stringent
First, let's review the IIHS test items and scoring criteria. There are no changes in the scoring criteria for 2022 compared to 2021. All vehicles are still required to take the IIHS's 6 crash resistance tests – driver side 40% bias collision, driver side 25% bias collision, passenger side 25% bias collision, side collision, roof strength and head protection (whipping test) tests – and vehicle performance will be scored on four levels: Good, Acceptable, Marginal and Poor.
Participating vehicles must receive "TOP Safety PICK+" or "TOP Safety PICK" in the above 6 crash tests. In addition, all winning models must be equipped with a pre-crash system and receive a rating of or above excellent in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-person pre-crash system tests, as well as at least one headlamp system with a good or average rating.
In addition to these test items, IIHS also tests the vehicle's lights, child seat restraints, and more. It is worth mentioning that the test vehicles participating in the IIHS are all funded by auto insurance companies and insurance associations to purchase in the market, and generally choose the lowest version, not provided by the car manufacturer, which also protects the objectivity and fairness of the test results to the greatest extent. IIHS's test program is highly authoritative, and in the face of the ever-changing automotive market, its award criteria are constantly updated, such as the results of the night pedestrian pre-crash test, which may be added to the top SAFETY PICK+ model selection criteria in 2023.
▇ The number of models on the list has increased, and Japanese and Korean brands have performed well
Next, let's move on to the topic to see the latest list of winning models. A total of 101 models were awarded in this edition, covering 12 market segments. Among them, 65 models were selected for the 2022 "TOP SAFETY PICK+", and the remaining 36 models were selected for the "TOP SAFETY PICK". Compared with last year's 90 models, the total number of models may increase by 11, and the TOP SAFETY PICK+ model has also increased from 49 models last year to 65 models. The US report said that "with the improvement of vehicle headlights by automakers, the number of TOP SAFETY PICK+ award-winning models is increasing", of course, this can also be seen that car manufacturers are paying more and more attention to vehicle safety.
From the brand distribution of the selected models, it can be seen that Japanese and Korean brand cars still occupy a large proportion of the "best safety models" in the United States, which has a certain relationship with its high market share in the United States and a richer number of models. Among them, Toyota, Honda and Subaru each have 6 models on the list, and Mazda and Lexus also have 5 models on the list. Hyundai, Kia and Genises have a total of 20 models awarded, and Kia and Hyundai brands have the most selected models, which shows that the quality of Korean cars in the US market is good, which can be said to be very different from their performance in the domestic market.
In the small and medium-sized car segments, award-winning models are almost occupied by Japanese brands. Among them, Honda Accord, Civic, Toyota Camry and other models in the Chinese market are also long-term best-selling models, but Subaru XV, Impreza and other models are quite niche in the Chinese market, and subaru models sold in china in a pure import way are closer to the results of the U.S. I-volume HS crash evaluation in terms of quality.
Honda Accord
Subaru XV
Among the major luxury brands, the Volvo brand, which has always emphasized safety and used it as a selling point, has indeed performed well, which is in stark contrast to Mercedes-Benz BMW, which has few selected models. In addition, the Korean luxury brand Geniseses has 3 models selected as "TOP SAFETY PICK+" in the large luxury car level, the brand has rapidly introduced new models in the past two years and introduced three models to China' imports, although it is very niche, but in this IIHS test is also a proof of strength, interested friends may wish to pay attention.
Volvo V60 CC
Geniseith G80
In the field of SUVs, Japanese and Korean brands still occupy a large share of the "TOP SAFETY PICK+" model, of which toyota Highlander, Toyota C-HR, Honda CR-V and other models that are selling well in the Chinese market have been selected, which shows that Japanese brands are in place for quality and word-of-mouth in both the Chinese and North American markets.
Toyota Highlander
Honda CR-V
Other notably, the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y were selected as "TOP SAFETY PICK+" models, and the controversial Tesla brand, which has gained fame and fortune in China, has not performed badly in the most stringent safety tests in the United States. I have to admit that Tesla has some excellence in vehicle design and manufacturing, but I also hope that there will be a safety crash test project specifically for electric vehicles in the future, so as to conduct a more objective and comprehensive evaluation of electric vehicles.
Summary: In this year's US IIHS Best Safety Model Selection, in the case of more stringent test standards, the number of models on the list has increased significantly, which to a certain extent reflects the progress of the automobile market, and major automakers pay more attention to vehicle safety. At the same time, we also hope that domestic automakers can focus more on improving quality and safety, rather than blindly stacking configuration and publicizing cost performance. After all, the safety of the vehicle is about life, and safety is the first priority.