News Releases

2021 CX-5 Recognized as Only Vehicle to Achieve Highest Rating in New IIHS Side Impact Test

WASHINGTON, DC (Oct. 27, 2021) – The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced today that the Mazda CX-5 achieved the highest performance and was the only vehicle out of 20 small SUVs to earn its top “Good” rating in a new, tougher side crash test. 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 traveling 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 in side impacts,” said Masaki Ueno, MNAO vice president of R&D, design, and quality assurance. “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.”

“We developed this new test because we suspected there was room for more progress, and these results confirm that,” IIHS President David Harkey says. “The good rating for the CX-5 shows that robust protection in a more severe side crash is achievable.”

Mazda is proud to add this top achievement to our list of accolades from IIHS, including all-tested Mazda vehicles earning the IIHS 2021 TOP SAFETY PICK+, the highest award in safety. These vehicles include the Mazda3 Sedan Hatchback, Mazda6, CX-3, CX-30 (built after September 2020), CX-5 and CX-9.

The IIHS is an independent, non-governmental safety-testing organization, funded by the insurance industry. For more information, visit https://www.iihs.org/ratings/top-safety-picks.

Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts, and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada, and Mexico through approximately 780 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ontario, and operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at InsideMazda.MazdaUSA.com/Newsroom.

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