2023 IIHS Safest Cars

[Sunny]

For 2023 IIHS made the safety criteria more stringent. As a result only 28 vehicles got the top rating (vs 65 in 2022).

Small Car
Acura Integra

Midsized Cars
Subaru Outback
Toyota Camry (built after January 2023)

Large Luxury Car
Genesis G90

Small SUVs
Honda CR-V
Honda HR-V
Lexus UX
Subaru Solterra (built after October 2022)

Midsized SUVs
Hyundai Palisade
Kia Telluride
Nissan Pathfinder
Subaru Ascent
Toyota Highlander
Volkswagen ID.4

Midsized Luxury SUVs
Acura MDX
Acura RDX
Infiniti QX60
Lexus NX and NX Plug-in Hybrid
Lexus RX
Tesla Model Y
Volvo XC90 and XC90 Recharge

Minivans
Honda Odyssey
Toyota Sienna

Large Pickups
Rivian R1T
Toyota Tundra crew cab and extended cab

And this is 2nd tier -

Small Cars
Honda Civic sedan and hatchback (except Type R performance variant)
Mazda3 sedan and hatchback
Toyota Corolla sedan and hatchback

Midsized Cars
Hyundai Sonata (built after December 2022)
Subaru Legacy

Midsized Luxury Car
Lexus ES 350

Small SUVs
Mazda CX-30
Mazda CX-5
Mazda CX-50
Nissan Rogue
Subaru Forester
Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Prime
Toyota Venza

Midsized SUVs
Ford Explorer
Mazda CX-9

Midsized Luxury SUV
Lincoln Nautilus

Just 1 German car (VW ID4) in the 48. I don't know if it is a case of them not testing them (I doubt it, since they are there in 22 list). Sad.

Source

 

[Matski]

I don't know if it is a case of them not testing them (I doubt it, since they are there in 22 list). Sad.

IIHS aren't testing the cars every year, they go from the previous test. For this year that has to include a new side impact test - they've not set a higher bar based on the old test, it's a new test introduced in 2021 involving more collision energy. Any vehicle who's previous test is prior to this change won't technically be eligible. For all the other given criteria a 3-Series should be a tier one pick, but it was tested in 2019, the 5 series, despite being a top pick last year, isn't eligible because it was tested in 2017 - neither have results for the higher energy side impact test.

I think it's a similar story with the headlights. If the previous test was done with optional headlights, the results wouldn't be eligible for the new requirement to test the base option as well.

Allied to that, many cars just aren't tested, or at least their results aren't available. There's no 4 series' tested, nor 7's or 8's, no X4, X6 or X7, and the last 2-er Coupe tested was 2014, no iX, no i4, no i7 for BMW.

Same story with Tesla, the Y gets an award based on a 2021 test, the Model 3, tested in 2019, misses out.