Car Brand Safety Rankings
26 manufacturers ranked by sales-weighted driver death rates β which brands actually keep their drivers alive?
How We Rank Brands
We take every model from each brand in the IIHS death rate dataset and compute a sales-weighted average. This means a brand's best-selling models matter more than niche ones β the Camry matters more than the Supra for Toyota's score.
Sales-Weighted
Popular models count more than low-volume ones β reflects what people actually drive.
Real Death Rates
Not crash test scores β actual driver fatalities per million registered vehicle years.
181 Models
Across 26 brands from the IIHS 2018β2021 dataset.
π Full Brand Rankings
Grades: A+ (<10), A (10β20), B (20β35), C (35β50), D (50β70), F (>70). Death rates are driver fatalities only per million registered vehicle years (not passengers). Why driver-only? β
π‘ Key Takeaways
π Luxury brands lead β but not all of them
BMW, Volvo, Lexus, and Audi consistently produce vehicles with the lowest death rates. This is a combination of better safety engineering, heavier vehicles, and more cautious driving demographics.
βοΈ Volume brands vary wildly
Toyota and Honda span from excellent (Sienna, Odyssey) to mediocre. Chevrolet and Ford have huge range β from safe trucks to dangerous subcompacts. Brand alone isn't enough; model choice matters enormously.
β οΈ Budget brands suffer
Mitsubishi, Dodge, and Kia cluster at the bottom. Their lineups include many small, lightweight cars and high-powered muscle cars that drive up average death rates.
π Size is the great equalizer
Across all brands, larger vehicles (SUVs, trucks) dramatically outperform smaller ones. A budget SUV from Chevrolet is safer than a luxury sports car from BMW. Choose size over badge.
Explore by Vehicle
See individual vehicle rankings and reliability data.
Safest Used Cars β Most Dangerous Cars β