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Hyundai, Kia, Genesis and Subaru clean up in IIHS 2018 safety ratings

Hyundai, its partner Kia and its Genesis division are the big winners in the latest vehicle safety ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, accounting for six of the 15 models that earned the Top Safety Pick+ awards for 2018. Subaru was right behind with four, Mercedes-Benz had two, and Toyota, BMW and Ford each had one. Another 47 vehicles earned the Top Safety Pick designation, where Toyota had 10 vehicle models, with Hyundai recognized for nine models. All but one of the seven vehicles in Subaru's lineup, the BRZ, qualified for one of the awards. IIHS strengthened the criteria for the Top Safety Pick+ award for 2018 to require headlights to earn a "good" rating — an "acceptable" rating was previously enough to notch the "plus" award — and good or acceptable passenger-side protection in the small overlap front crash, which replicates a crash involving just the front corner of a vehicle. It also required vehicles to have acceptable or good headlights for the first time to earn a Top Safety Pick award. Most of winners for both awards qualified on the basis of optional upgrades. IIHS in October began evaluating the passenger side of vehicles in its small overlap front crash test after it said it became clear that automakers were neglecting that side of the vehicle as they focused on improving driver-side protections. IIHS first began conducting driver-side small overlap crashes in 2012. It began measuring both how well low and high beams illuminated the road and the amount of glare they produce for oncoming vehicles as part of its ratings in 2016. The Top Safety Pick+ winners are listed below. The list doesn't include any minivans, pickups or minicars, which don't appear on either list of awardees. Small cars Kia Forte Kia Soul Subaru Impreza (sedan and wagon) Subaru WRX Midsize cars Subaru Legacy Subaru Outback Toyota Camry Large luxury cars BMW 5 series Genesis G80 Genesis G90 Lincoln Continental Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan Midsize SUVs Hyundai Santa Fe Hyundai Santa Fe Sport Midsize luxury SUV Mercedes-Benz GLC The full list of Top Safety Pick winners is available here.Related Video: Image Credit: IIHS BMW Genesis Hyundai Kia Lincoln Subaru Toyota Safety Crossover SUV Wagon Sedan crash test

Buyers ditching expensive European sedans to buy expensive American trucks

The New York Times ended the automotive week with a story that adds numbers and context to a range of other stories, from the crossover craze to the increasing median price of a new car to ever more grandiose pickup trucks. The NYT piece reveals that the shift to larger vehicles isn't merely about the average U.S. buyer swapping the midsize sedan for a Ford Edge. Luxury buyers are migrating from plush sedans to plush SUVs and trucks that creep close to six-figure prices, and the Detroit Three are running Treasury presses because of it. From 2013 to 2017, the truck category — everything from pickups to minivans — climbed from 30 percent of the market to 41 percent. In January of this year, trucks claimed 66 percent of new vehicle sales. At the milk-and-honey end of profits, GMC alone accounted for 11.3 percent of all vehicle sales over $60,000, not just trucks. That puts the luxury truck maker behind Mercedes-Benz and Ford, The Blue Oval's feasting on Lariat, King Ranch and Raptor versions of the F-150, which make up more than half of that pickup's sales, putting it ahead of Chevrolet, Porsche and Lexus on the high-dollar sales list. The average transaction price of a GMC in Denali trim last year was $56,000; it's easy to see why, when one dealer told the NYT he just swapped a 2012 BMW 550i for a $71,000 GMC Sierra Denali. That truck starts at $52,900. The NYT started its story with a buyer who took home a Ford Raptor instead of an Audi A6, and optioned that $50,020 Ford Raptor close to $80,000. Over at Lincoln, the new $72,055 Navigator — the one so popular that Ford will increase production — crossed hands for an average sale price of $77,000 in January. And a Jeep dealer told the NYT that the two $93,000 Trackhawks he had on his lot "won't be here more than a few weeks." While trucks head up in sales volume and price, cars are headed so viciously in the opposite direction that "the Detroit Three and even some foreign manufacturers acknowledge they are now losing money on many of the cars they sell." So ... get ready for a lot more crossovers and trucks. Related Video: Find out what vehicle is right for you. Give our Car Finder tool a try.

2020 Lincoln Aviator final specs drop — it makes even more power than before

The 2020 Lincoln Aviator is getting more power, and we haven’t even driven it yet. Well, itÂ’s not getting more power, but the final numbers are officially out, and theyÂ’re higher than what Lincoln promised at the initial reveal. We were told at last year's L.A. Auto Show that the base 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 would make 400 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Lincoln's spec sheet shows itÂ’s still going to make 400 horsepower, but the torque figure is now up to 415 pound-feet. We're looking at the same spec sheet, but a hat tip to CarBuzz for noticing the change first. The plug-in hybrid model has received an even larger bump to its ratings. Lincoln said it would be 450 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque combined, but itÂ’s actually going to be 494 horsepower and 630 pound-feet of torque. We were a bit slack-jawed at the numbers before, and this just takes it one step further. Lincoln still isnÂ’t quoting any acceleration numbers, but with this amount of power, something in the 4- to 5-second range seems likely for a 0-60 mph time. ItÂ’s a legitimate shot across the bow in the German SUV horsepower wars. That said, the Aviator persona comes across as much more muscle car-like than a performance SUV meant to tackle lap times like the AMGs and M car SUVs of the world. We donÂ’t know the all-electric range yet, but Lincoln did tell us the size of the battery pack and the electric motorÂ’s output. Aviator PHEVs will be working with a 13.6 kWh battery pack and a 101-horsepower electric motor. There are two modes: One is called Preserve EV, and the other is called Pure EV. Preserve EV is able to charge the battery up to 75 percent using the engine while driving, whereas Pure EV is designed to keep the car in electric-only mode. YouÂ’ll get blue accents in the Lincoln star if you buy the plug-in hybrid, too. Some cool headlight technology is coming to the Aviator in the form of optional adaptive pixel LED headlights. Lincoln says itÂ’s capable of speed-dependent lighting, which adjusts the beam based on your speed. At fast speeds, Lincoln says more light is directed at the road, while driving at low speeds disperses it wider to cover more area directly in front of the vehicle. WeÂ’ll be driving the new Aviator soon, so look out for our first drive impressions coming later this month.