On the other hand, Hyundai and Mazda both scored big wins despite harder criteria to meet
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The IIHS tightened its testing criteria for 2024, yet more cars and SUVs won its top award compared to 2023. However, none of the top award winners were full-size pickup trucks. Here’s a breakdown of the winners, the losers, and why big pickups might not be the bastions of safety that stereotypes would have you believe they are.
Like most years, the IIHS made it harder to win its two safety awards dubbed Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+. To qualify for either award a vehicle must score a “Good” rating during an updated side crash test. They also have to score acceptable or good in an updated front-pedestrian-crash prevention test.
They also need good to acceptable headlights on all trim levels. Vehicles must achieve a Good rating in an updated moderate overlap test if they want the Top Safety Pick+ award. That test now demonstrates how a vehicle keeps occupants in the front and rear seats safe. It’s been a major issue for truckmakers.
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Only 22 vehicles managed to come away with that Top Safety Pick+ award. Hyundai Motor Group had six of those wins across Genesis, Kia, and Hyundai-branded vehicles. Mazda came in second place with five wins. Third place was Honda with four total awards between itself and its luxury brand Acura.
“The high number of SUVs that earn awards probably reflects the dominance of those vehicles in the U.S. market,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “But it’s disappointing that only four pickups and four midsize cars earn awards, considering the popularity of those classes.”
The last and only full-size truck to ever win an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ award was the 2019 RAM 1500. Since then only the Toyota Tundra and Rivian R1T have snagged that award though neither achieved the feat for 2024. Instead, they’re both winners of the second-best award given by the IIHS the Top Safety Pick (minus the plus). The group of cars that qualified for that award is far larger.
It includes the Rivian R1S, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Subaru Impreza, the BMW X1, and many many more. These cars have to meet the same standards as the Top Safety Pick + cars aside from scoring an Acceptable rating in the updated moderate overlap test. That specific test determines how safe a crash is for second-row occupants. Keep that in mind as you peruse the list. Cars that only scored the Top Safety Pick rating inherently didn’t score well in that test.
