Like there was any doubt: the fifth-generation Subaru Forester took home the highest score in the Japan New Car Assessment Program or JNCAP in collision safety performance. The 2019 Forester joins the Subaru XV and the Impreza as two other models underpinned by the Subaru Global Platform to achieve such a feat.

Subaru’s new compact crossover scored 96.5 points out of a possible 100, impressive given that the Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and the National Agency for Automotive Safety and Victim’s Aid (NASVA) revamped the scoring system during this cycle.

The new Forester employs the Subaru Global Platform, a new common architecture used in Subaru vehicles, and enhances passenger protection with improved energy absorption compared to previous generation of the model. Combined with the optimized body structure and proper layout of high-tensile steels, the Forester improved passenger protection for frontal, side, and rear-end impacts with minimal weight increase.

Continuing to develop vehicles under its philosophy of “all-around safety” Subaru aims to eliminate traffic accidents (Subaru driver/passengers and people Subaru cars collide with) by 2030.