Motor City’s truck powerhouses just took one on the chin. In the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's latest awards, none of Detroit's Big Three managed to snag the group's highest safety honor for their pickups in the 2026 round. Ford, General Motors and Stellantis all missed out on Top Safety Pick+ for their trucks, while newer and less traditional rivals rolled off with the top prizes. For a region where full-size pickups are practically a civic identity, it is the kind of snub that could trigger hurried engineering tweaks or some creative spin in the marketing department.
According to IIHS, 63 vehicles qualify so far for 2026 awards, with 45 earning Top Safety Pick+ and 18 earning Top Safety Pick. The institute tightened its criteria this year, requiring a good rating in the updated moderate-overlap front test and bringing back a vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation that includes runs at 31, 37 and 43 mph. Only two large pickups show up on the winners list, the Tesla Cybertruck with a Top Safety Pick+ rating and the Toyota Tundra crew cab with a Top Safety Pick rating, highlighting how the tougher rules rearranged which trucks end up at the top of the safety heap.
Why Detroit Trucks Fell Short
Industry watchers and local reporters say the raised bar exposed some uncomfortable weak spots in several full-size truck lineups. As reported by the Detroit Free Press, many large pickups were tripped up because certain trims earned unacceptable or poor scores on required headlight ratings. The switch from allowing an "acceptable" rating to demanding a "good" rating in the moderate-overlap test also knocked familiar contenders out of the top tier. Put together, those details were enough to leave Detroit's most important truck nameplates off the highest honor roll this year.
What Automakers Can Do Next
The IIHS notes that automakers have already been upgrading crash-avoidance tech and headlight performance, and that making those improvements standard across trims is now essential if they want to collect awards. IIHS also stresses the need for stronger rear-seat protection, including better seat belts and structural updates, as a key requirement for top marks going forward. For Detroit manufacturers, many of the fixes are relatively incremental, such as software calibration changes, standardizing LED headlights and tweaking belt hardware, but how quickly those changes become standard will decide whether the Big Three can reclaim their safety bragging rights.
In the meantime, expect automakers and dealers to zero in on specific trims that already meet IIHS thresholds and to trumpet each new safety tweak as it arrives. If Detroit's truckmakers want to climb back to the top of the list, they will have to turn these safety upgrades into default equipment, not pricey options, so buyers are not forced to play configuration bingo just to get the institute's seal of approval.
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