These are the 15 safest cars and SUVs money can buy for 2018

• The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has honored 15 vehicles with their Top Safety Pick+ honor.
• The 12 cars and three SUVs aced the stringent IIHS crash test regimen. 
• Hyundai Motors led the way with six winners while Subaru followed with four Top Safety Pick+ honors.

Every year, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety names only a handful of vehicles with its Top Safety Pick+ honor. Twelve cars and three SUVs from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Lincoln, Subaru, and Toyota earned that distinction from the IIHS for 2018. The winners range from small economy cars to large luxury sedans. 

"The improvements in occupant protection have been amazing over the past decades," IIHS president Adrian Lund said in a statement. "All automakers now recognize the important role of safety in consumer choice, and they are increasingly receptive to working with our engineers to understand the next steps in keeping people from harm in motor vehicle crashes and to make real changes in their vehicle designs."

To become an IIHS Top Safety Pick+, all vehicles must offer industry-leading front, side, rear, and rollover crash protection. In addition, all cars must feature proactive crash prevention and advanced headlight technology.

The IIHS is putting more focus on passenger safety this year with the addition of a new small-overlap front passenger crash test. According to Lund, this test was added when it became clear to the institute that some manufacturers weren't paying as much attention to passenger safety as much as they were to driver safety.

"Drivers expect that their passengers, who are often family, will be protected just as well as they are," Lund said. "Manufacturers have been taking this issue seriously since we first shed light on it, and we're confident that good small overlap protection will become the norm on the passenger side, just as it has on the driver side."

For 2018, two manufacturers stand above the rest the. Hyundai Motors — which also includes the Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis brands — lead the way with six Top Safety Pick+ winners. Subaru follows in second place with four winners.

Here's a closer look at the 15 IIHS Top Safety Pick+ winners for 2018.

SEE ALSO: We drove a $46,000 Subaru Ascent SUV to see if it's ready to challenge Honda, Toyota, and Ford — here's the verdict

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The 2018 Kia Forte

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The 2018 Subaru Impreza