Only 1 Lincoln Model Made the IIHS 2023 Top Safety Pick List
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, recently published its list of cars that won the site’s coveted Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards. On top of that, the site recently revised the criteria it used to grant those awards, resulting in fewer cars qualifying for them. So, here’s a look at the only Lincoln model that made the IIHS’ 2023 Top Safety Pick list.
An overview of the Top Safety Pick list
The IIHS is a company that takes cars and then performs crash tests on them, and the results of those crash tests form the basis of the Top Safety Pick list. Four grades are available: Good, Acceptable, Marginal, and Poor. The site also tests safety systems, and there are three grades available. Those grades are Superior, Advanced, and Basic.
Currently, the Top Safety Pick award criteria include that the car must have a “Good” rating in all its frontal crash tests. It must have at least an “Acceptable” rating in the updated side crash test, and it must also have at least an “Acceptable” rating on its standard headlights. Its daytime pedestrian crash prevention system must be “Advanced” or better.
The Top Safety Pick+ award has similar criteria but is more strict in a few areas. The car must get a “Good” rating in the updated side crash test. It also must have at least an “Advanced” rating for its nighttime pedestrian crash prevention system.
This is the only Lincoln model that made the list
Due to that strict criteria, the Lincoln Nautilus was the only Lincoln model to make the list. Unfortunately for the Detroit-based automaker, the Nautilus only received the Top Safety Pick award. It’s good that it won the award in the first place, but the problem is that it’s in the midsize luxury SUV segment. Every other option in that segment won the Top Safety Pick+ award.
That being said, the IIHS didn’t award the Nautilus with the highest honors because of a relatively minor issue. As with every other car that won the Top Safety Pick award, the Nautilus performed well in its crash tests. It scored a “Good” rating in almost every crash test category, except for a few portions of the updated side crash test. It still scored a “Good” rating on that test overall, but it received less than a “Good” on a few injury measures.
The midsize luxury SUV also received a “Good” or “Acceptable” rating for its headlights, and its daytime pedestrian crash prevention system received an “Advanced” rating. The one criterion that the Nautilus missed was the nighttime pedestrian crash prevention system. It doesn’t appear that the SUV even has such a feature, and that’s why it failed to get a Top Safety Pick+ award.
Here’s a look at the other midsize luxury SUVs that won
Nine other midsize luxury SUVs won an award, and Asian luxury automakers dominated the segment, as they won six awards in total. Lexus was the biggest winner overall, as the NX, NX Plug-in Hybrid, and RX all won a Top Safety Pick+ award. Acura had two winners with the MDX and the RDX. The Infiniti QX60 was the last Asian luxury midsize SUV to win an award.
Volvo was another big winner, as the Swedish automaker had two winners in the segment. The XC90 and the XC90 Recharge both won a Top Safety Pick+ award. The Tesla Model Y was the final luxury midsize SUV to win a Top Safety Pick+ award.
