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By JOHN O'DELL
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Toyota Motor Co., whose cars and trucks have helped set industry standards for affordable safety, had two of the worst performers in crash tests of the new subcompact sedans that are growing in popularity as motorists seek better gas mileage.
The 2007 models of Toyota's basic Yaris sedan and its boxy Scion xB wagon received the lowest scores as the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety rated "minicars" for the first time from five automakers.
The institute's crash tests are more rigorous than federal tests and more respected by consumer groups. Insurers created the institute decades ago, and its crash tests have become the industry's big stick for pressuring automakers into building safer vehicles.
Nissan Motor Co.'s subcompact Versa received the top rating, but the institute's president, Adrian Lund, said none of the cars tested provided stellar protection when hit by larger vehicles.
"Tests like these are going to set small cars back a half-decade," said industry analyst Eric Noble of CarLab. The Orange, Calif., firm specializes in product testing and development consulting for automakers.
"Toyota doesn't usually make mistakes," Noble said, "but it was foolish of them to bring over small cars designed for the Japanese market," where cars and trucks are much smaller than those in the U.S.
The crash-test results, released by the Virginia-based institute Tuesday, found the Versa best among 2007-model subcompacts in protecting occupants in front-, rear- and side-impact collisions. It received "good" ratings, the institute's top score, in all three crash tests.
The Nissan subcompact was designed for the European and North American markets and is longer, wider and heavier than other cars in what the insurance institute calls the "minicar class," or those that weigh less than 2,500 pounds.
A midsize car like a Toyota Camry weighs about 3,200 pounds, while a midsize sport utility vehicle weighs about 4,000 pounds.
Honda Motor Co.'s Fit subcompact was rated "good" in the 40-mph front and 31-mph side crashes, but inadequate seats and head restraints earned it a "poor," the institute's worst score, in protecting occupants from injury in a 20-mph rear-end collision.
In a statement Monday, Toyota said the company's cars "meet the safety requirements of the federal government and NHTSA," the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"The IIHS side impact test is a very severe test, much more severe than the test used by NHTSA," the statement said, adding that "by calendar year 2009, side curtain air bags will be standard for all Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles."