Mazda's Hot 2021 CX-30 Crossover Earns Top Safety Score - Here's What Made the Difference

The 2021 Mazda CX-30 has earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus award. This one change made a difference.

Mazda's hot CX-30 crossover improves for 2021 in a key way. All 2021 CX-3s built after September 2020 have headlights rated "good" by IIHS. This important change results in the 2021 Mazda CX-30 crossover earning the industry's highest possible safety rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick Plus award. Previously, one popular trim had headlights rated poor.

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“With safety a top priority for Mazda, we are proud to have the CX-30 earn the 2020 IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK+ award,“ said Mazda North American Operations President Jeff Guyton. “Mazda is committed to providing the most advanced safety technologies in all of our vehicles. We continually strive to challenge ourselves to create products and technologies, that provide our customers a confident and joyful driving experience.“

Mazda leads the American auto industry with more Top Safety Pick Plus-rated vehicles than any other automaker. The new for 2020 CX-30 had previously earned good ratings in all six IIHS crashworthiness evaluations, including the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests. The CX-30 also achieved superior ratings for both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention.

CX-30s built after September 2020 are equipped with standard good-rated headlights. The Premium trim's headlights had been rated Poor by IIHS due to excessive glare. This has been corrected for the 2021 model year. Glare is a safety issue to both one's own vehicle and to approaching traffic. Mazda CX-30 shoppers will be pleased to hear that all trims now earn the industry's highest possible safety score.

John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. Following his engineering program, John also completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American newspapers and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin