Ford, Honda listed among safest vehicles
The number of new cars considered the safest by the insurance industry nearly tripled in the past year, helped by automakers’ push to make certain safety equipment more widely available.
Ford Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. had the most vehicles on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s annual list of the safest cars for 2008.
The institute requires new cars and Trucks to have electronic stability control, or ESC, to qualify for the award.
Ford was represented on the list by the Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable passenger cars with optional ESC, and the Ford Edge, Ford Taurus X and Lincoln MKX midsize sport utility vehicles. The Volvo S80, C70 midsize convertible and XC90 SUV, part of Ford’s Volvo unit, made the list.
Honda and its Acura unit had seven vehicles on the list: the Honda Accord, Odyssey, Pilot, CR-V and Element, and the Acura MDX and RDX SUVs.