New Mazda SUV is a Top Safety Pick

March 13, 2020

The 2020 Mazda CX-30, a small SUV, earns a Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In contrast to many vehicles that qualify for the award only when equipped with premium headlights, the CX-30 qualifies only with its base headlights.

The new small SUV earns good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests.

To qualify for a 2020 Top Safety Pick award, a vehicle must earn good ratings in those six tests. It also needs advanced or superior ratings for both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention, as well as an acceptable or good headlight rating.

The CX-30 earns superior ratings in both front crash prevention categories. Its standard system performed flawlessly in IIHS track tests, avoiding collisions in all test scenarios.

The CX-30 earns the award when equipped with its base LED projector headlights, which earn a good rating. Its premium, curve-adaptive headlights earn a poor rating due to excessive glare. This shortfall prevents the small SUV from earning the higher-tier Top Safety Pick+ award, which requires acceptable- or good-rated headlights across all trims and packages.