The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has bestowed its highest safety honor — a Top Safety Pick+ award — on the 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan.   

The midsize SUV performed well in six arduous crashworthiness evaluations, capturing good scores across the board. These included the driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength, and head restraint tests.

However, to garner “plus” status, IIHS engineers also demand vehicles earn advanced or superior ratings in both the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations. Moreover, good or acceptable headlights must be standard across all trims.

In both cases, the Tiguan met the exacting criteria. The midsize SUV’s standard front crash prevention system earns a superior rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle test and an advanced rating in the vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluation.

Finally, the 2022 Tiguan comes with two new headlight systems that both earn acceptable ratings, giving the SUV the final element needed to light the way to Top Safety Pick+ recognition.