2015 Audi A3 Recognized as Top Safety Pick+

The first German car to earn the new Top Safety Pick+ recognition from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is the 2015 Audi A3 Sedan. As a refresher, the latest IIHS testing methodology requires vehicles to not only score top grades in passenger protection during an impact, but also offers some sort of frontal-impact warning/mitigation system to help avoid driver's certain crashes in the first place. And while vehicles can earn a TSP+ rating even with what the IIHS considers a "Basic" rating for the latter technology, the 2015 Audi A3 Sedan upped the ante with an "Advanced" grade for the Audi "pre sense" feature.

In the tests for small- and moderate-overlap front protection, side-impact protection, roof strength and head-restraint performance, the 2015 Audi A3 Sedan received "Good" grades, the highest available. 

Said Mark Del Rosso, chief operating officer for Audi of America: “The Top Safety Pick+ rating for the A3 sedan demonstrates the full Audi commitment to safety. With a host of standard luxury features, industry-first technology and uncompromised design, the Audi A3 raises the bar as to what is expected out of entry-level luxury vehicles.”

For example, the 2015 Audi A3 Sedan also will become the only vehicle on the road with a standard secondary-collision brake-assist technology. This feature works to help prevent the vehicle from a secondary collision, e.g., rebounding from one impact into ongoing traffic, by automatically applying the brakes after the first incident. Priced from $29,900, the A3 Sedan will be the first of a full portfolio of compact premium cars from the four-rings branding, including diesel, high-performance, plug-in hybrid and convertible variants.

(Note: There is one premium German SUV on the TSP+ roster at this point, the 2014 Mercedes-Benz M Class.)