According to a series of articles, Volvo maintains its reputation for luxury and safety with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rating the Volvo S60 as one of the top two cars in the front crash test.

The agency reported that five models, the C30, S60, S80, XC60 and XC90 were top safety picks in 2011. In past tests the Volvo XC60, the only crossover, received a five-star ratings for individual crash tests, passenger and driver safety during frontal collisions in 2010. The recent study for front collisions crashed a car into a rigid barrier at 40 mph to test against collisions with other cars or a pole/tree.