Audi is a German luxury automaker that’s well-known for making high-quality cars that drive well, but Audis can be more than that. While the company doesn’t have a reputation for safety, two of its cars made a list of the safest cars of 2022. Here’s a look at the two Audis that made the safest cars list and what those cars are like in 2023.

1. The 2022 Audi A6

Car and Driver created a list of the safest cars of the year. The list was built using data from the NHTSA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the IIHS, or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Based on the data from those two organizations, the A6 came out as one of the safest cars of the year. 

The IIHS, which recently made its award process more rigorous, gave the A6 the Top Safety Pick+ award, and that’s the organization’s highest honor. Technically speaking, there are two versions of the A6, and the other one is the Allroad variant. The Allroad version is a wagon rather than a sedan, but it received essentially the same crash test results as the sedan version of the Audi did. As such, the A6 Allroad also received a Top Safety Pick+ award.

The NHTSA also gave the car a 5 out of 5 safety rating. Overall, this $57,000 luxury sedan had few flaws to speak of in terms of its crash test results. The Allroad version has safer headlights, but the regular headlights are also acceptably safe.

On top of that, drivers will get several smart safety features as standard. The A6 comes with automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control is an optional add-on. 

2. The 2022 Audi A7

The A7 is a $71,000 midsize sedan that’s larger and faster than the A6, but it’s still as safe as its smaller sibling. The IIHS gave the luxury car the Top Safety Pick+ award as well. Overall, it performed well in all of IIHS’ crash tests, but there is a slight difference in headlights. The A7’s headlights only received an “acceptable” grade. That’s similar to what the A6’s headlights got, but the A6 also had headlights that got a “good” grade. The A7 doesn’t.

Like with the A6, the NHTSA also gave the A7 a 5 out of 5 safety rating. On top of that, the German luxury automaker gave it similar smart safety features. It comes with a standard forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking, but other smart safety features, such as blind-spot monitoring and lane-keeping assist, are options. 

How those safest cars stack up in the 2023 model year

Overall, Audi didn’t change much about the A6 or the A7 for the 2023 model year, so unless the safety organizations change their testing processes, the Audi sedans should receive similar crash test results. That said, the German automaker made some safety changes with the new model year. Both luxury cars got more smart safety features as standard, though there are some significant differences between the two. 

Adaptive cruise control is now part of the A6’s Convenience package, and the car’s top trim gets a standard remote parking system. The A7, meanwhile, received more meaningful changes. Instead of being options, adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist are now standard features for the 2023 version of the Audi sedan. The top trim also gets a remote parking system as a standard feature.