2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Wins Big In Latest Round Of IIHS Top Safety Pick Awards

Nov. 14, 2022 2:51 PM ET by Jay Traugott Industry News / 1 Comment

It earns the IIHS' coveted Top Safety Pick+ award.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class was redesigned for the 2022 model year, and competition in the mid-size luxury sedan segment remains fierce. Therefore, it should be no surprise that the fifth-generation C-Class has earned the highest possible award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

In an official press release, the IIHS says the C-Class has earned a Top Safety Pick+ award, meaning it had to earn good ratings in six crashworthiness testing evaluations. These include driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength, and head restraint tests.

2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedan Front View Driving

2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedan Rear View Driving

2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedan Side View

In addition, the vehicle must offer an optional front crash prevention system that achieves advanced or superior ratings in two separate evaluations: vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian. We've reported about many cars missing out on the Top Safety Pick+ award because they lacked a standard for every trim front headlight system with at least a good or acceptable rating.

In the case of the C-Class, it's available with not one but two robust headlight systems, which include the standard static LED headlights and the optional curve-adaptive headlights that are a part of the Digital Light Package. The systems earned a good and acceptable rating, respectively.

2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedan Cockpit

2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedan Main Screen

2022-2023 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedan Air Vents

Buyers have a choice between two different crash prevention systems: the standard active brake assist, which earned a superior score in the vehicle-to-vehicle evaluation, and an advanced score in the vehicle-to-pedestrian test. The optional active brake assist with a cross-traffic function received superior ratings in both categories.

This is good news for the German automaker and comes only a few days after we reported about the 2022 C-Class, specifically the C300e plug-in hybrid failing the dreaded moose test. It managed to hit two cones while going 48 mph.

The highest speed it could achieve without hitting any cones was 45 mph. But the good news is that the C-Class managed to keep all four wheels on the ground, avoiding severe understeer and snap oversteer.