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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

BMW i3 wins 2015 Green Car of the Year award

The popular little BMW i3 (popular in the US, at least) was named the 2015 Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. The award doesn't just take into account a car's green credentials but also its "availability to the mass market." While the i3 is a bit expensive, starting at $41,350, it is becoming available at BMW dealers across the country, which cannot be said about a lot of other new plug-in vehicles released these past few years. The other finalists this year were the CNG-powered Chevy Impala Bi-Fuel, the Audi A3 TDI, the Honda Fit and the VW Golf. The BMW i3 with range extender gets a fuel economy rating of 117 MPGe and 39 miles per gallon (in gas mode) with a 72-mile EV range. The EV-only version gets 124 MPGe combined (137 in the city and 111 on the highway) and has an EV range of 81 miles. Green Car Journal has handed out the award every year for ten years now, naming the Honda Accord Hybrid/Plug-In Hybrid the winner last year, the Ford Fusion models (plug-in hybrid and hybrid) in 2013, the Honda Civic Natural Gas in 2012 and the Chevrolet Volt in 2011. BMW i3 NAMED GREEN CAR JOURNAL'S 2015 GREEN CAR OF THE YEAR" Milestone Carbon Fiber Electric Car Wins the Auto Industry's Most Important Environmental Award at Los Angeles Auto Show LOS ANGELES, CA (November 20, 2014) – BMW's i3, an innovative electric car built with a lightweight carbon fiber passenger cell and an aluminum drive module, has been named Green Car Journal's 2015 Green Car of the Year®, which was announced at the LA Auto Show. Green Car of the Year® finalists also included the Audi A3 TDI, Chevrolet Impala Bi-Fuel, Honda Fit, and VW Golf. The Green Car of the Year® award is an honor widely recognized as the auto industry's most important environmental accolade. Green Car Journal, the leading voice in the intersection of automobiles, energy, and the environment since the publication's launch in 1992, celebrates the high-profile award's 10th anniversary at the L.A. Auto Show this year. "BMW's i3 is a milestone vehicle in many respects and illustrates the automaker's expansive vision of future motoring," said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and CarsOfChange.com.

BMW selects two artists to create M6 GT3 art cars

Whether it's Alexander Calder's 3.0 CSL or Jeff Koons' M3 GT2, BMW has had a role in some of the most beautiful art cars to ever see a racetrack since 1975. For the 40th anniversary of the series, the company will celebrate in the best way possible – making even more of them. Chinese artist Cao Fei and John Baldessari from the US will create two more artistic racers around the new M6 GT3, and after hitting the track, they'll go on display in museums in 2017. An international jury of museum directors and curators selected Cao and Baldessari to create the 18th and 19th art cars, respectively. Born in 1978, Cao is the youngest artist to create one with BMW. She seems to hint at the inspiration for her example in the company's announcement by saying: "Acceleration, a concept that reminds me of my desire for speed as a runner during the Young Pioneers days, is deeply connected to the entangled contemporary relationships between velocity, energy, and the country." Born in 1931, Baldessari will be the oldest person to produce a BMW art car. "This will definitely be my fastest artwork yet," he said in the release. BMW doesn't know yet exactly where either art car would race. "There is a possibility of one or both the [sic] compete in one of the major IMSA WeatherTech series races. However, this has not been decided yet," company spokesperson Thomas Plucinsky told Autoblog. "We expect to see the cars on track in 2017." Both artists have designs in the works but nothing to release yet. However, the gallery above shows some of the earlier creations. The M6 GT3 is BMW's latest racing weapon for customer teams, and it uses a modified 4.4-liter turbocharged V8 with up to 585 horsepower and a six-speed sequential gearbox. It will compete in places like the GTD class of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportCar Championship in the US. Cao Fei and John Baldessari to create the next BMW Art Cars Racing tradition to be continued with the BMW M6 GT3 Munich/New York. Following commissions by Jenny Holzer (1999), Olafur Eliasson (2007) and Jeff Koons (2010), the BMW Art Car series will now be continued. On the occasion of the series' 40th anniversary, a jury of distinguished museum directors and curators chose two internationally renowned artists to design one car each. Chinese artist Cao Fei (*1978) and American artist John Baldessari (*1931) will be the youngest and the oldest artist represented in the collection respectively.