Choosing a family car is always a balancing act between comfort and safety, but according to the latest ranking by the prestigious portal TopSpeed, the scales are definitely tilted in favor of Japanese engineering. In the list of the ten safest crossovers for 2025 and 2026, one brand literally dominates the scene.
The Mazda CX-30 occupies the leading position after the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded it the maximum five-star rating. But the success of the Hiroshima brand does not stop there - its “big brothers” The CX-50 and the impressive CX-90 also took home the top honors, making Mazda’s lineup a benchmark for road safety.
The list of honorees is a veritable parade of technological advances in the field of passive and active safety. Immediately after the Japanese trio are established names such as the luxurious Volvo XC90 and the elegant representatives of Genesis – the GV60 and GV80 models. The Korean invasion of the ranking continues with the Kia Telluride and the electric Hyundai Ioniq 5, while the practical Honda CR-V and the massive Hyundai Palisade close the top 10. All of these machines have undergone ruthless crash tests, proving that a modern family SUV can be both a spacious living room on wheels and an impenetrable fortress for its passengers.
On the other hand, the news for fans of Japanese reliability is much more unexpected. While some are winning laurels for safety, one of the giants in the industry - Toyota - is facing serious criticism regarding the quality of some of its iconic models. Surprisingly or not, the sports icon GR Supra was named the brand's most problematic car in the last two decades. It turns out that the "sharpened" coupe suffers from chronic defects in the brake assist system and belt tensioners - shortcomings that hardly fit into the image of the "eternal" Toyota.
The company's electric future is also in trouble. The new bZ4X, which was supposed to be Toyota's flagship in the battery era, turned out to be the "anti-hero" in the current reliability statistics. Owners are reporting a worryingly poor quality of the hub bolts, which casts a shadow over the model's ambitions. So while Mazda triumphs with five-star safety ratings, their Toyota counterparts will have to seriously roll up their sleeves to clean up the reputation of some of their most attractive offerings on the market.