Ranked Each Brand from Least to Most Dangerous

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Sean Jackson

As a buyer, a vehicle’s safety rating is a crucial and complex component to consider. It concerns not only physical equipment, but also a car’s performance in challenging environments. With this in mind, AxleGeeks sought to identify the most dangerous car brands by studying the percentage of model lines within each brand that earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick or the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards.

The IIHS awards its Top Safety Pick accolades to vehicles based on a crashworthiness rating that considers small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength, and head restraints and seats. To be a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn a “good” rating in each category as well as a basic rating for front crash prevention. To receive the Top Safety Pick+ rating, a model must exceed the Top Safety Pick criteria and obtain an advanced or superior rating for front crash prevention.

Using this information, AxleGeeks composed a list of the brands with the fewest model lines scoring Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards, and created a combined percentage based on each brand’s performance in each category. Using that metric, we ranked each brand from least to most dangerous. Because high-end brands like Porsche, Jaguar, Maserati, and Land Rover often do not test their cars with IIHS and do not receive ratings, they are not included in the study.

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