The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has said the redesigned Toyota Camry got a perfect score on its side-impact crash test and good scores for front-collision protection, but it will not be rated as a "top pick" because its seats performed poorly in a whiplash test, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The decision to deny a "top pick" award to the Camry and to there designed Toyota RAV4 crossover sport-utility vehicle, which also performed well in front- and side-crash tests, underscores the increasing importance that the institute is attaching to rear-crash injury, and specifically to whiplash, the report said.

A spokesman for Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales operation in California said Toyota has different tests and standards for whiplash protection than the IIHS, according to the report.

"We feel very confident in our own whiplash testing," said the spokesman, Sam Butto. The company believes the Camry and the RAV4 are "just as strong as any vehicles that may have gotten a good rating by IIHS. They have their method of testing, and we have ours."

The IIHS, which tests a broad array of vehicles for front-, side- and rear-impact crash protection, released its latest round of results on Sunday.

Also tested were Kia Motors Corp.'s Optima midsize sedan, which received "good" scores for front- and rear-impact protection.

Hyundai Motor Co.'s Tucson and the Kia Sportage crossover SUVs received "average" scores for front- and side-impact protection and "poor" scores for rear-crash protection.

DaimlerChrysler AG's Dodge Caliber compact was rated "good" forfront-impact protection and "marginal" for side and rear crashes.

Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln Zephyr luxury sedan was rated "average" for front- and side-impact protection and "marginal" for rear-impact protection.

Source:Xinhua