A Top Safety Pick award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is the highest possible accolade from the non-profit safety research organization. The Volkswagen Routan is the latest vehicle in the Volkswagen lineup to earn this coveted safety award.

The annual rating from the IIHS recognizes the vehicles that perform best in protecting passengers in the front, side, and rear crash test evaluations, and the newly required roof-strength test evaluations.  The Institute only awards Top Safety Pick ratings to vehicles that are also fitted with electronic stability control and head protection airbags.

The other 2011 Volkswagen models to receive the IIHS Top Safety Pick rating are; CC 2.0L TSI, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Passat, Tiguan, Touareg, and the four-door Golf and GTI models.

With this ninth vehicle award Volkswagen now leads the industry with the most Top Safety Picks. “It’s a great reward for the emphasis we place on safety in the development of our Gernman-engineered vehicles,” said Jonathan Browning, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.