(CNN) -- Small cars on the U.S. market are gaining traction with consumers, but some new models have more work to do to catch the Honda Civic, designated by a respected safety group as an industry leader. The 2013 two- and four-door Civics turned in a "good" performance -- the highest score -- in a new type of tough front crash test earlier this year to earn the highest accolade from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Four other cars, including the Dodge Dart from Chrysler and the Ford Focus, more recently posted acceptable ratings in the same IIHS test. But that was good enough for them to earn top overall status as well from the organization, even though the Civic did better.
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Honda Civic posts highest score in new front-crash test by insurance group
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Ford Focus, Dodge Dart marginal in test, but match Civic for overall safety
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Chevy Cruze, Volkswagen Beetle lag, but still considered safe vehicles
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Automakers turning out small cars to meet consumer, government demands for fuel efficiency
@placeholder plans to run the overlap test on minicars next.