Here Are All the Cars That No Longer Have a IIHS Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ Rating

• The IIHS just updated its criteria for the Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ ratings.
• A number of vehicles that were previously highly rated either don't meet the new requirements or haven't been retested.
• Here are all the vehicles that have been downgraded or no longer have these designations.

This week, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (or IIHS) updated the requirements for its coveted Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ ratings. As a result, a significant number of vehicles that previously held the TSP and TSP+ designations no longer have them, either because they don't meet the requirements, or because they haven't been retested yet. Here's what the changes entail and which vehicles were affected.

IIHS changes criteria

The IIHS is a nonprofit organization that, among other activities, performs crash tests on most vehicles on sale today. Those findings, in addition to criteria including availability of advanced safety features and headlight illumination performance, influence the IIHS's overall safety rating. The vehicles that meet the most stringent requirements are awarded a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award, with the latter being the highest achievable.

And manufacturers pay a lot of attention to the awards the IIHS delivers. Here's a Ford press release, for instance, that touts the top-tier good rating achieved by the Escape, along with a Top Safety Pick award.

Ford might want to settle on the releases, however, as the Escape was one of the many vehicles that had its Top Safety Pick award stripped after the IIHS updated its requirements for TSP and TSP+ designations. The new requirements are:

Top Safety Pick

• Good ratings in the driver- and passenger-side small overlap front tests and original moderate overlap front test (no longer requires data from roof strength and head restraint tests)
• Acceptable or good rating in the updated side test (new)
• Acceptable or good headlights [as] standard (changed from "available")
• Advanced or superior rating for daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention (no longer requires data from the vehicle-to-vehicle crash protection test)

Top Safety Pick+

• Good ratings in the driver- and passenger-side small overlap front tests and original moderate overlap front test (no longer requires data from roof strength, head restraint and original side tests)
• Good rating in the updated side test (new)
• Acceptable or good headlights [as] standard (unchanged)
• Advanced or superior rating for daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention (no longer requires data from the vehicle-to-vehicle crash protection test)
• Advanced or superior rating for nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention (new)

The new side test, which the IIHS describes as "[involving] 82 percent more energy than the original test," is the most significant contributing factor for the updated ratings, followed by the requirement of high-performing headlights. Strong results in the nighttime pedestrian crash avoidance test are also new requirements for the TSP+ rating.

Which vehicles lost their Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ ratings?

Some vehicles that used to have a TSP or TSP+ award now have those designations stripped, while others have been downgraded from TSP+ to TSP. All vehicles listed below have had their awards removed entirely unless otherwise noted.

• Audi A4 sedan and wagon
• Audi A5 coupe and hatchback
• Audi A6 sedan and wagon
• Audi A7
• Audi e-tron and e-tron Sportback
• Audi Q4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback
• Audi Q5 and Q5 Sportback
• Audi Q8
• BMW 2 Series coupe
• BMW 3 Series
• BMW 5 Series
• BMW X3
• BMW X5
• Buick Encore GX
• Cadillac XT6
• Chevrolet Trailblazer
• Chrysler Pacifica
• Ford Bronco Sport
• Ford Edge
• Ford Escape
• Ford Explorer (downgraded)
• Ford F-150 extended cab and crew cab
• Ford Mustang Mach-E
• Genesis G70
• Genesis G80 sedan and EV
• Genesis GV60
• Genesis GV70
• Genesis GV80
• Honda Accord
• Honda Civic sedan and hatchback (downgraded)
• Hyundai Elantra
• Hyundai Ioniq 5
• Hyundai Nexo
• Hyundai Santa Cruz
• Hyundai Santa Fe
• Hyundai Tucson
• Hyundai Venue
• Jeep Compass
• Kia Carnival
• Kia EV6
• Kia K5
• Kia Seltos
• Kia Sorento
• Kia Soul
• Kia Sportage
• Kia Stinger
• Lexus ES 350 (downgraded)
• Lexus IS
• Lincoln Aviator
• Lincoln Corsair
• Mazda 3 sedan and hatchback (downgraded)
• Mazda CX-30 (downgraded)
• Mazda CX-5 (downgraded)
• Mazda CX-50 (downgraded)
• Mazda CX-9 (downgraded)
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan
• Mercedes-Benz GLC
• Mercedes-Benz GLE
• Mitsubishi Outlander
• Nissan Altima
• Nissan Maxima
• Nissan Murano
• Nissan Rogue (downgraded)
• Nissan Sentra
• Subaru BRZ
• Subaru Crosstrek and Crosstrek PHEV
• Subaru Forester (downgraded)
• Subaru Impreza sedan and hatchback
• Subaru Legacy (downgraded)
• Tesla Model 3
• Toyota Corolla sedan and hatchback (downgraded)
• Toyota Corolla Cross
• Toyota GR86
• Toyota RAV4 and RAV4 Prime PHEV (downgraded)
• Volkswagen Arteon
• Volkswagen Golf GTI
• Volkswagen Golf R
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• Volvo C40
• Volvo S60 and S60 PHEV
• Volvo S90 and S90 PHEV
• Volvo V60 Cross Country
• Volvo V60 PHEV
• Volvo V90 Cross Country
• Volvo XC40 SUV and EV
• Volvo XC60 and XC60 PHEV

Edmunds says

While these cars, trucks and SUVs were either downgraded or no longer have their Top Safety Pick ratings at all, there are currently 48 vehicles that still have them. Readers can find a complete list of vehicles that have Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ ratings based on the new IIHS standards here.