(December 10, 2015) WASHINGTON — The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has announced its top safety picks for 2016 and Toyota topped the list of Top Safety Pick+ with nine winners, which included the Camry, the best-selling U.S. car.

Forty-eight vehicles met tougher criteria for 2016 to take home the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick+ award, earning good ratings in all five IIHS crashworthiness evaluations and an advanced or higher rating for front crash prevention. An additional 13 models qualified for Top Safety Pick.

Honda placed second with eight winners, followed by Volkswagen with seven winners and Subaru Motor Co. with six awards. Among Volkswagen’s winning group vehicles were the VW Jetta, VW Passat and Audi A3.

Among U.S. nameplates, only Fiat Chrysler Automobile's Chrysler 200 received the Top Safety Pick+ award, as did its Fiat 500X. Another 13 qualified for the second highest award on the list, the Top Safety Pick. The awards, often used in automaker advertising, follow tougher criteria for safety standards this year than in the past.

"We asked auto manufacturers to do more this year to qualify for our safety awards, and they delivered," says Adrian Lund, IIHS president. "For the first time, a good rating in the challenging small overlap front crash test is a requirement to win, in addition to an available front crash prevention system. How that system rates determines whether a vehicle will earn Top Safety Pick+ or Top Safety Pick."

2016 Scion iA crash tested

The baseline requirements for both awards are good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests, as well as a standard or optional front crash prevention system. The 48 winners of the "plus" award have a superior- or advanced-rated front crash prevention system with automatic braking capabilities. These vehicles must stop or slow down without driver intervention before hitting a target in tests at 12 mph, 25 mph or both. Models with a basic-rated front crash prevention system, which typically only issues a warning and doesn't brake, qualify for Top Safety Pick.

IIHS inaugurated Top Safety Pick in the 2006 model year to help consumers home in on vehicles with the best safety performance. The Top Safety Pick+ accolade was introduced in 2012 to recognize vehicles that offer an advanced level of safety.

Last year when IIHS announced the initial winners of the 2015 awards, 33 models qualified for Top Safety Pick+ and 38 qualified for Top Safety Pick. The ranks then grew to 51 Top Safety Pick+ and 48 Top Safety Pick winners. IIHS releases ratings as it evaluates new models, adding to the ranks of winners throughout the year.

The 2016 winner's circle includes some redesigned models with improved frontal crash protection and autobrake features, which help to prevent or mitigate certain frontal crashes.

The 2016 Nissan Maxima and Volkswagen Passat, for example, earned good ratings in the small overlap front test, while earlier models were rated acceptable. Nissan also improved occupant protection in rear crashes and rollovers, boosting the Maxima's head restraints and seats rating from marginal to good and its roof strength rating from acceptable to good. The Maxima's optional front crash prevention system is rated superior, and the Passat's is rated advanced. Both midsize cars earned the plus award.

A number of previous winners are missing from the new lists, including many small and midsize cars. Last year, vehicles with an acceptable small overlap rating could qualify for either award if their other four crashworthiness ratings were good. An available front crash prevention system was required only for Top Safety Pick+ and not Top Safety Pick. More than 20 winners of the 2015 Top Safety Pick award and four plus-award winners don't qualify under the 2016 criteria.

"Consumers who purchased a winning 2015 model that doesn't qualify this year needn't worry that their vehicles are now less safe," Lund says. "As vehicles continue to improve, however, we think it's important to recognize that progress and encourage further advances by making our ratings more stringent. This year's winners are certainly safer than the vehicles that earned our first Top Safety Pick awards 10 years ago."