The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety revealed on Wednesday its picks for the safest vehicles of 2011.

Sixty-six models — including 40 cars, 25 sport utility vehicles and one minivan — earned the Top Safety Pick award. Only 27 vehicles received that distinction last year after the Insurance Institute added a roof-strength parameter to its test criteria.

As 2010 progressed, 58 vehicles were ultimately named Top Safety Picks. Owing to automakers’ efforts to strengthen roofs and make changes to air bags, 2011 begins with a much larger list.

Hyundai (including Kia) and Volkswagen (including Audi) are the most heavily represented brands, with nine awards each. General Motors (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC); Ford (including Lincoln) and Toyota (including Lexus and Scion) each have eight winners. Subaru, with five awards, is the only automaker with a winner in each of the categories in which it competed.

The award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting passengers in the institute’s crash testing. These are vehicles that earn the highest rating of Good (on a scale of Good, Fair, Marginal, Poor) in the institute’s front, side, rollover — which measures roof strength — and rear-impact tests. They also must be equipped with or offer electronic stability control as an option.

In 2009 more than 12,000 people in the United States died in frontal crashes, more than 6,000 in side impacts and more than 8,000 in rollovers, according to the institute.

Hyundai and Chrysler made marked improvements in ratings following the redesigns of some popular models.

The Hyundai Tucson and its twin, the Kia Sportage, earned the Poor rating for roof strength in 2009, but their redesign helped them become Top Safety Picks for 2011.

The previous-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, though equipped with head side-curtain air bags, was rated Marginal for side-impact protection, but the 2011 model, now with torso air bags, earned a Good rating and is a 2011 Top Safety Pick.

“The good news for consumers is how quickly automakers are responding to new information about how to make vehicles safer,” said Adrian Lund, the institute’s president.

“We are very pleased with the progress that is being made, especially this latest round with roof strength,” he continued. “The stronger you make the package, the easier it is to protect the fragile contents inside of it.”

For a complete list of the institute’s 2011 Top Safety Picks, visit iihs.org.

(Source: NY Times)