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Mercedes-Benz C-Class Earns Prestigious IIHS Top Safety Pick+ Award

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The IIHS has awarded Top Safety Pick+ honors to the 2016 Mercedes-Benz C-Class

The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class aced all five of the IIHS crashworthiness tests

The C-Class sedan is the best-selling Mercedes-Benz model in the United States with more than 50,000 people already purchasing this compact car in 2016 alone. These consumers can now breathe a sigh of relief as the IIHS recently bestowed Top Safety Pick+ honors upon the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

To earn this prominent safety award, the 2016 Mercedes-Benz C-Class scored “good” ratings in all five of the Institute’s crash-worthiness evaluations. These five evaluations are the side strength test, head restraints test, small overlap front test, moderate overlap front test, and roof strength test.

In addition to those impressive scores, to earn the “+” rating on top of being a Top Safety Pick, a vehicle must earn an “advanced” or “superior” rating for front crash prevention. The C-Class was able to secure an “advanced” rating in this category thanks to its Collision Prevention Assist Plus technology that comes standard on every C-Class model. Moreover, thanks to advanced safety features found on higher trims, the sedan’s rating was pushed to a “superior” for front crash prevention when equipped with those available safety features.

One area in which the C-Class did particularly well was in the roof strength test. In this evaluation, it was discovered the new C-Class has a strength-to-weight ratio of seven, which is one of the best ratings the IIHS has ever given in this category. The roof strength test is important when measuring a car’s safety in rollover crashes. Furthermore, the new C-Class also did well in the small overlap test where maximum intrusion into the occupant compartment was held to just four inches. This is a significant upgrade over the previous C-Class that experienced 20 inches of intrusion into the occupant compartment.

The only low rating for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class came in the headlights category. Although headlights are not yet included in the criteria that determines Top Safety Pick winners, it should still be noted that all three headlight options for the C-Class earned “poor” ratings from the IIHS, including the optional curve-adaptive LED projectors.

The ‘16 Mercedes-Benz C-Class joins the Chevy Volt, Lincoln MKZ, and Ford Fusion which have recently earned IIHS Top Safety Pick+ honors too.

Video: 2016 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Small Overlap IIHS Crash Test