Toyota Canada's product line earns more IIHS safety awards than any other automaker.

(TORONTO, ON - December 15, 2011) The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has announced its Top Safety Pick awards for 2012 and Toyota leads the industry with 15 awards for Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles.

"Canadian drivers count on third-party research to make wise choices when shopping for a vehicle," said Sandy Di Felice, Director, External Affairs, Toyota Canada Inc. "Toyota has always taken safety seriously, which is why we're delighted that the IIHS has awarded its Top Safety Pick award to 15 models across the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. "

All Toyota models are built to feature carefully-designed body structures that channel accident forces away from occupants, as well as full suites of airbags and other passive safety systems, and the six active safety technologies in the Star Safety System - all as standard equipment - because for Toyota, safety is not optional.

The IIHS Top Safety Pick includes three new or recently refreshed 2012 Toyota models:

• Toyota Camry - the seventh generation of this popular sedan - provides class-leading safety in the mid-size segment with 10 standard airbags.
• Toyota Prius v - an all-new model - introduces hybrid safety systems including an audible warning system that alerts pedestrians when the vehicle is operating in electric-only mode.
• Toyota Yaris Hatchback - the second generation of one of Canada's most popular subcompacts - has been completely re-designed and re-engineered with more space and more safety as standard.

In addition to these three, 12 other Toyota, Lexus and Scion models achieved IIHS Top Safety Pick awards in 2012:

• Toyota: Corolla (built in Canada); Prius; Avalon; Highlander; Venza; Sienna; Tundra (crew cab)
• Lexus: CT 200h; RX 350 (built in Canada)
• Scion: tC; xB; xD.