Toronto, Ontario — The Mazda CX-5 was at the top of its class during IIHS safety tests, as the OEM reported that the vehicle was the only small SUV to earn a ‘good’ rating during side-impact tests.
This was the first test series of 2020-2021 model year vehicles using a more stringent test, aimed at addressing higher severity crashes by using a heavier barrier travelling at a higher speed to simulate the striking vehicle.
“Safety is a top priority at Mazda, and we have long researched how to protect occupants from side impacts,” said Masaki Ueno, v-p of R&D, design and quality assurance at Mazda North America.
“We have studied real-world crashes and used computer simulation to consider body structure and load paths, resulting in the robust design that has existed in the CX-5 since the 2017 model year.”
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) president David Harkey said that the organization saw a gap in their testing and sought to address it.
“We developed this new test because we suspected there was room for more progress, and these results confirm that,” said Harkey.
“The good rating for the CX-5 shows that robust protection in a more severe side crash is achievable.”
