Ford Motor Company: Understanding the automaker’s history, legacy
Explore the rich history of Ford Motor Company, from its groundbreaking assembly line innovations to iconic cars like the Model T, Mustang, and F-150.
- The Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport received less than marginal ratings in recent IIHS safety tests.
- The Bronco Sport showed heightened risk for head and neck injuries in the rear seat.
- Six other vehicles earned the Top Safety Pick+ award, including models from Hyundai, Kia, Toyota and Nissan.
The Ford Bronco and Ford Bronco Sport SUVs failed to meet the marginal ratings to qualify for a top safety pick in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s latest safety ratings, with the institute noting there is a heightened risk for head and neck injuries in the rear seat of the Bronco Sport.
On June 10, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety — a nonprofit group owned by auto insurers with the purpose of reducing injuries from car crashes — said it tested nine vehicles and awarded six models from four different brands a 2025 Top Safety Pick+ award.
Three of the vehicles tested — the Volkswagen Taos, Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport — did not earn a top safety ranking, rather came as “adequate,” due to subpar performance in one or more of the required tests, the institute said in its findings.
The crash tests showed both Broncos put rear seat passengers at an elevated risk of chest injuries. The Taos got inadequate results in the front crash test and for its headlights and pedestrian crash avoidance system.
A spokesperson from Volkswagen did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment on the results.
Ford Motor Co. spokesman Mike Levine emailed the following statement to the Detroit Free Press: “The 2025 Bronco and Bronco Sport meet or exceed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) regulatory requirements. Both Bronco and Bronco Sport have earned overall 5-star NHTSA New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) ratings, and Bronco is currently the only vehicle in its segment to achieve a five-star overall vehicle score in NHTSA’s testing.”
The Top Safety Pick+ winners
The insurance institute said to qualify for either Top Safety Pick+ or the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award this year, vehicles need good ratings in the small overlap front crash test. That test simulates a crash where a small portion of the front of the vehicle impacts another vehicle or barrier.
Also, vehicles must get a good rating in updated side tests, an acceptable or good rating in the pedestrian front crash prevention evaluation and acceptable or good-rated headlights across all trim levels.
The institute said getting an acceptable rating in its updated moderate overlap front test is enough to qualify for Top Safety Pick, but a good rating is required to earn Top Safety Pick+. The moderate overlap test simulates a head-on collision where the vehicle’s front overlaps 40% of a stationary vehicle’s width at 40 mph. Its purpose is to measure rear-seat occupant protection.
The 2025 models that did receive the Top Safety Pick+ ranking were: Hyundai Elantra, Kia K4 and Toyota Prius, all small cars; the Hyundai Sonata midsize car, the Toyota bZ4X electric small SUV, and the Nissan Murano midsize SUV.
The institute said for some vehicles the Top Safety Pick+ award applies only to models built after the date when the manufacturer made improvements to rear occupant protection. For example, the award applies to Elantras built after October 2024, Sonatas built after November 2024 and K4s built after January 2025. The bZ4X award is for vehicles built after December 2024, when the headlights on its XLE trim were changed to the current good-rated ones.
Ford and VW fall short of meeting crash metrics
The insurance institute report said new ratings also are available for the Ford Bronco, Ford Bronco Sport and Volkswagen Taos, but “these models did not earn awards due to inadequate performance in one or more of the required tests.”
“The Bronco was disqualified from contention because of marginal ratings for its headlights, pedestrian front crash prevention system and moderate overlap crash performance,” the institute wrote. “In the moderate overlap test, measurements taken from the rear dummy indicated an elevated risk of chest injuries, though the Bronco performed well by most other metrics.”
Ford’s Bronco Sport also failed the same evaluation, but for different reasons. The institute said during the test, “the rear dummy’s lap belt slid up onto the abdomen from the ideal position on the pelvis, which increases the chances of internal injuries. Measurements taken from the rear dummy also indicated an elevated risk of injuries to the chest and head or neck.”
The Bronco Sport earned the group’s “acceptable rating” in the updated side test, primarily because of high injury metrics for the driver’s pelvis.
The institute said the 2025 Volkswagen Taos earned “only” an acceptable rating in the small overlap front test because the safety cage, which is designed to protect occupants, did not hold up well. It also fell short in the updated moderate overlap front test and earned subpar ratings for its headlights and pedestrian crash avoidance system.
“Although Volkswagen added pretensioners and load limiters to the rear seat belts in the Taos in January 2025, chest injury metrics for the rear passenger remained high in the moderate overlap test,” the report stated.
Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
