Making its way on the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick for 2012 is the all-new Buick Verano. This raises General Motors IIHS Top Safety Pick award count to 14 in 2012 – not too shabby.

Equipped with 10 standard air bags, the Verano came out with a good score in the IIHS tests for front and side crash tests, roof strength test, and rear impact test. The Verano also features standard electronic stability control, which the IIHS requires for Top Safety Pick designation.

“GM set a goal that every new product would be designed to meet or exceed the third-party metrics that IIHS and others use to communicate crash worthiness to consumers,” said Gay Kent, GM executive director of Vehicle Safety. “We are now seeing the results from that commitment.”

Of the GM vehicles that made it to IIHS’s 2012 Top Safety Pick award list, 13 models had previously qualified for the 2011 award. These vehicles were carried over to 2012 because its structure is substantially the same as the IIHS tested for 2011. Carrying over for 2012 awards are the Buick LaCrosse, Regal and Enclave; the Chevrolet Cruze, Sonic, Volt, Equinox, Malibu and Traverse; the Cadillac CTS (sedan) and SRX, and GMC Terrain and Acadia.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has bestowed their Top Safety Pick to the 2011 Honda Odyssey as well as the GM crossovers, which includes the Buick Enclave, Chevy Traverse and GM Acadia.

The three GM vehicles all share the Lambda platform. The GMC Acadia was the guinea pig that ran the gamut of tests, and since the other two are built on the same platform, Buick and Chevrolet can also tout the award in their ad campaigns.

The Odyssey is only the second minivan to win the IIHS’s top award, next to the Toyota Sienna, and it did so by demonstrating great results during the new roof strength tests that were added to the criteria recently.

The GMC Acadia’s roof took four times its weight during testing, and the Odyssey five; the IIHS requires merely 1.5 times the roof’s own weight to pass.

[Source: Autoblog]

GM is recalling 200,000 crossovers, among them the Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia and Saturn Outlook due to a piece of trim in the vehicle’s second row of seats.

The trim can prevent the seats from folding flat after they were moved upright, and the seat belt buckle release can also inadvertently be pressed, resulting in the belts coming undone.

Starting August 31st, GM will either fix the trim piece, replace the seat belt buckle or make whatever modifications are necessary to ensure that the vehicle is safe. Owners can call Chevrolet at 800-630-2438, Buick at 866-608-8080, GMC at 866-996-9463, Saturn at 800-972-8876 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s hot line at 888-327-4236.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

It may cost more money to purchase and fill up, but SUVs , trucks and mini-vans are cheaper to insure. This information is coming from a recent government report that based its findings on the fact that some vehicles cost less to fix, and therefore reflects how much it will cost to insure.

Based on losses of insured vehicles for the model years 2007 to 2009, work van Ford E350 Econoline tops the list as the cheapest vehicle to insure. It’s followed by the Mercury Mariner, a small SUV, and the Chevrolet Traverse.

Due to the fact that so many of the company’s vehicles made the list, Ford has no issues about tooting its own horn. “Vehicle affordability continues to be the most important purchase consideration for car and truck buyers, rivaled only by fuel economy,” said Frederiek Toney, a Ford vice president. “We design our vehicles to be easier and more affordable to repair because we know this saves our customers money in insurance premiums and repair costs over the long term.”

The only car to make the list is the Smart ForTwo microcar. The basic idea behind the list is that some vehicles are cheaper to fix if you crash them, and that difference is reflected in their insurance So that Econoline van is 61% cheaper to insure than the average vehicle. The Mariner is 59% cheaper to insure. Traverse is 57%.

Other cheap vehicles to insure, and their percentage they are cheaper than average:

Ford E350 Econoline: 61%

Mercury Mariner: 59%

Chevrolet Traverse: 57%

Ford Escape: 50%

Jeep Wrangler: 53%

Smart ForTwo convertible: 52%

GMC Acadia: 47%

Saturn Outlook: 46%

Ram 1500: 45%

Ford F-150 Supercab: 44%

Kia Sorento: 44%

Dodge Grand Caravan: 40%

Ford F-250: 40%

[Source: Kicking Tires]

Parents magazine has made the list (and assumedly checked it twice) to bring you their top 15 picks of family-friendly vehicles for 2010. Teaming up with Edmunds.com, Parents has only included models that come equipped with antilock brakes and front, side, and side-curtain air bags. These vehicles also come with family necessities such as sliding rear seats, smart storage for toys, and other amenities that make the drive that much smoother. You may be surprised to learn that not many minivans or SUVs made the list. The picks aren’t in any particular order and are broken down into categories such as sedans, hybrids and large vehicles.

They are listed after the jump, along with a few of their top selling points:

[Source: Parents]

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Jeep‘s 2011 Grand Cherokee is one of the most important products for what is arguably Chrysler’s strongest brand. The new 2011 model represents a move upscale for the Grand Cherokee, but the base price will rise  to $32,995, a fair bit more expensive than its main rivals, the Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Traverse, which start at $29,280 and $29,224 respectively.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is hoping that the Grand Cherokee, with its upscale styling and luxury features like full-length sunroof and integrated wi-fi, will spearhead his goal of selling 800,000 Jeep vehicles worldwide by 2014. A refreshed Wrangler, Jeep’s best-selling vehicle, is expected to follow in late 2011.

[Source: MLive]

The Chevrolet Orlando crossover will not be sold in the United States after all. In an interview with Bloomberg, Margaret Brooks, GM’s product marketing director for small cars and crossovers said that “The best thing to do for Chevrolet is to focus on the brands we’ve already brought to market: the Traverse, Equinox, Malibu and, soon to come, the Cruze.”

In addition to Asia and Europe, the Orlando, a seven seater minivan based on the same platform as the Cruze and Volt, will be sold in Canada, where the Mazda5 (a direct competitor to the Orlando) is a popular vehicle. Canadians typically buy smaller vehicles due to higher vehicle costs, and an average gas price of $4 per gallon.

[Source: Automotive News]