Nine More Vehicles Earn Top Safety Pick Ratings from IIHS

Nine models earned 2025 Top Safety Pick+ or Top Safety Pick awards in the latest batch of vehicle ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.  

The Top Safety Pick+ winners include the Audi All-new A5, Audi Q6 Sportback e-tron, BMW X3, Ford Explorer, Hyundai Ioniq 9 and Kia Sportage. For several vehicles, the award applies only to models built after a certain date, when their manufacturers made modifications to improve rear occupant protection. The award applies to X3s built after April 2025, Sportages built after May 2025, and Explorers built after June 2025. 

The Hyundai Santa Cruz, Nissan Rogue and Toyota Corolla Cross earned the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award. 

Most of the new award winners earn good ratings for pedestrian crash avoidance. The exception is the Santa Cruz, which is rated acceptable. 

The X3 and Explorer qualify for awards thanks to improved headlight ratings following manufacturer modifications, while improved results in the side crash test boost the Corolla Cross and Rogue to award status. 

To qualify for either award in 2025, vehicles need good ratings in the small overlap front and updated side tests, an acceptable or good rating in the pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation and acceptable- or good-rated headlights across all trim levels.  

An acceptable rating in the updated moderate overlap front test is enough to qualify for Top Safety Pick, but a good rating is required for the “plus.”  

Three additional IIHS evaluations, vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention, seat belt reminders, and LATCH ease of use, are not part of the award criteria but are included in the evaluation table. Consumers might wish to factor them into their purchase decisions. 

New ratings are also available for Audi Q4 e-tron, Audi Q4 Sportback e-tron, Kia EV6, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota 4Runner and Toyota Grand Highlander, but these models did not earn awards due to inadequate performance in one or more of the required tests.  

For more information about vehicle ratings, visit the IIHS website here.