Volkswagen Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport qualify for highest award

The 2024 Volkswagen Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport, both midsize SUVs, earn Top Safety Pick+ awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

To qualify for the Top Safety Pick+ award in 2023, a vehicle must earn a good rating in the Institute’s updated side test as well as in the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front and original moderate overlap front tests. Acceptable or good headlights must be standard across all trims, and a front crash prevention system that earns advanced or superior ratings in both the daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations must be available.

In contrast, for the lower-tier Top Safety Pick award, an acceptable rating in the updated side test is enough, and only an advanced or superior rating in the daytime vehicle-to-pedestrian test is necessary.

Both the three-row Volkswagen Atlas and two-row Atlas Cross Sport meet all the requirements for the higher award.

The SUVs come with a standard front crash prevention system that earns advanced ratings in both the daytime and nighttime pedestrian crash avoidance tests, and the two available headlight systems both earn good ratings.