This is the fifth consecutive year that the 9-3 Sport Sedan has brought home IIHS top honours, a unique achievement in the luxury segment. For 2007 the 9-3 earned the 'Top Safety Pick Award', in 2006 the 9-3 earned the 'Top Safety Pick – Gold Award' and received a Double Best Pick crash-test rating for 2005.

The institute began testing convertibles in 2007. In the inaugural year, the 9-3 Convertible earned a top spot. This is the third year that the Saab 9-3 Convertible earns the 'Top Safety Pick Award' - one of three convertibles and the only soft-top convertible to earn a top spot for 2009.

The Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor based on performance in high-speed front and side-impact crash tests plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries. Winning vehicles must earn good ratings in all three tests and offer electronic stability control.

“The Saab 9-3 earned the Institute’s highest rating in front and side crash tests, and the Saab Active Head Restraints provide state-of-the-art protection against neck injuries in rear-end crashes,” said IIHS President Adrian Lund. "The addition of electronic stability control as standard equipment confirms Saab’s commitment to vehicle safety.”

IIHS is a nonprofit research and communications organisation funded by car insurers. The Institute's research focuses on countermeasures aimed at all three factors in motor vehicle crashes (human, vehicular, and environmental) and on interventions that can occur before, during, and after crashes to reduce losses.

“We are delighted that these IIHS findings confirm our own crash test results,” says Per Lenhoff, head of Safety at Saab Automobile AB in Sweden. “This reassures consumers that the 9-3 is among the very best in its class for crash safety.”