The momentum just keeps building for the Ford Motor Company. Five more of its high-quality products—the Ford Flex and Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and MKT, and Mercury Milan—have all earned 2010 “Top Safety Pick” status from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). That means Ford is now selling 11 separate vehicles that were named “Top Safety Picks” this year, which is more than any other automaker in the country—and that’s in addition to having the most five-star safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The IIHS recognition is an especially notable achievement when you realize that the Institute added a new roof-strength measurement to its rollover testing for 2010, making “Top Safety Pick” honors even harder to come by. In fact, the Flex, Fusion, MKZ, MKT and Milan had all been certified by the IIHS in past years and were actually re-tested this year to keep that status.
“Leading the industry in both ‘Top Safety Pick’ ratings and government five-star crash test ratings is very significant because customers increasingly consider IIHS and NHTSA ratings when choosing a new vehicle,” said Sue Cischke, Ford’s group vice president of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering. “These latest test results further demonstrate Ford’s commitment to continuous improvement on the safety front.”
And it all starts at the very foundation of today’s latest Fords. Key vehicle structures, including A- and B-pillars, roof headers and bows, and rocker panels and rocker baffles, leverage high-strength steel construction for safety, as does the automaker’s robust Side Protection And Cabin Enhancement (SPACE) Architecture. Many new Ford products also boast the company’s “Trinity Front Crash Body Architecture,” which was designed by Ford engineers to absorb and redirect crash forces away from a vehicle’s cabin.
For Cischke, it’s simple: “With each new model year, we’re raising the bar on vehicle safety.”
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