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Poor headlights cause 40 cars to miss IIHS Top Safety Pick rating

Over the past few months, we've noticed a number of cars and SUVs that have come incredibly close to earning one of the IIHS's highest accolades, the Top Safety Pick rating. They have great crash test scores and solid automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. What trips them up is headlights. That got us wondering, how many vehicles are there that are coming up short because they don't have headlights that meet the organization's criteria for an "Acceptable" or "Good" rating. This is a revision made after 2017, a year in which headlights weren't factored in for this specific award. This is also why why some vehicles, such as the Ford F-150, might have had the award last year, but have lost it for this year. We reached out to someone at IIHS to find out. He responded with the following car models. Depending on how you count, a whopping 40 models crash well enough to receive the rating, but don't get it because their headlights are either "Poor" or "Marginal." We say depending on how you count because the IIHS actual counts truck body styles differently, and the Infiniti Q70 is a special case. Apparently the version of the Q70 that has good headlights doesn't have adequate forward collision prevention technology. And the one that has good forward collision tech doesn't have good enough headlights. We've provided the entire list of vehicles below in alphabetical order. Interestingly, it seems the Volkswagen Group is having the most difficulty providing good headlights with its otherwise safe cars. It had the most models on the list at 9 split between Audi and Volkswagen. GM is next in line with 7 models. It is worth noting again that though these vehicles have subpar headlights and don't quite earn Top Safety Pick awards, that doesn't mean they're unsafe. They all score well enough in crash testing and forward collision prevention that they would get the coveted award if the lights were better.

Nissan Altima getting major refresh for 2016?

Nissan hasn't let the latest Altima languish since introducing the midsize sedan. In the last two model years, the company has improved the vehicle's infotainment system and slightly bumped the V6's fuel economy, among other tweaks. But the upcoming mid-cycle refresh may bring the most drastic changes yet, according to the company's product planning exec. Nissan styling boss Shiro Nakamura previously suggested that the refreshed Altima might take some design inspiration from the latest Murano and the Sports Sedan Concept. The move would give the midsize sedan a sportier look and presage an even more aggressive shape for the next-gen model. Nissan North America product planning boss Pierre Loing confirmed to Automotive News that some styling changes are on the way for the Altima for the 2016 refresh, and the sedan is getting updated tech, too. He even hinted that the model's already impressive 38-miles-per-gallon highway fuel economy may see a bump, as well. "We're going to do something significant for the Altima for the midcycle," said Loing to Automotive News. Although, the updates might not go as far as the updated 2015 Toyota Camry's roughly 2,000 new parts, he suggested. The decision to put so much work into the updated Altima comes partially from its position in the midsize market. While the sedan segment is losing ground to crossovers, it's still a big part of the industry, and the Altima is gaining steam. The Nissan's sales were up 4.7 percent to 335,644 units in 2014, according to Automotive News, compared to 388,374 for the Honda Accord and 428,606 for the Toyota Camry. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Nissan Design/Style Nissan Sedan refresh

Nissan happy with plug-in vehicles for now, will wait on hydrogen

Anyone who's driven the Nissan Leaf knows that it won't set any land speed records. Still, ask Nissan Vice Chairman Toshiyuki Shiga, and the battery-electric vehicle will be miles ahead of any hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles for the foreseeable future in Nissan's advanced-powertrain plans. Figuratively, of course. Shiga, speaking in Singapore, elaborated on Nissan's interest in developing a production hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, and, to put it bluntly, he said the company didn't have much interest, the Japan Times reports. Sure, Nissan reached an agreement with Mercedes-Benz parent Daimler and Ford early last year to work together to speed up fuel-cell-vehicle powertrain development. Like Toyota, Honda and Hyundai, the automakers appear to be following the axiom that hydrogen fuel-cell technology is the best-of-all-worlds option for advanced powertrain because of the combination of zero emissions and conventional-vehicle-like full-tank range. Still, the prohibitively high cost of building hydrogen refueling stations will prevent any substantial adoption anytime soon, Shiga says, hence Nissan's focus on battery-electric vehicles. Nissan sells the all-electric Leaf in about 40 countries, and the model is the best-selling battery-electric vehicle in the world. In the US, Nissan sold 24,411 Leaf vehicles through October, up 35 percent from a year earlier.