Dodge Dart gets top crash-test rating

* Sales up for newer models with top safety rating

* Hyundai Santa Fe, Lexus ES also get top rating

* Of autos sold in U.S., 73 pct get top rating

DETROIT, Oct 3 (Reuters) - The Dodge Dart, the modelChrysler is betting on becoming a top-selling small car, wasamong four new vehicles on the U.S. market to receive a topcrash-test rating by an influential safety group on Wednesday.

The 2013 Dart, the first model jointly engineered anddesigned by Fiat SpA and Chrysler Group LLC, was nameda "Top Safety Pick" by the Insurance Institute for HighwaySafety.

Three other 2013 models, each one redesigned from previousmodel years, also earned the top rating: the Hyundai Motor Co

crossover Santa Fe, the Lexus ES 350 midsize luxurysedan, and the Subaru XV Crosstrek hatchback.

The rating means that each vehicle performed well in testcrashes evaluating front, side and rear impacts as well asrollovers.

"We had high expectations for the Dart and our engineersdelivered," said Reid Bigland, chief of Chrysler's Dodge brand.

Of the 180 vehicles IIHS tested for the 2012 model year, 132were awarded the Top Safety Pick designation, said Russ Rader,spokesman for IIHS.

The IIHS will issue in December its annual list of thesafety report for vehicles sold in the U.S. market. These fourmodels were tested after manufacturers requested the tests aheadof the normal IIHS schedule, Rader said.

Each of the four models were introduced to the U.S. marketwithin the last several months.

Hyundai's Santa Fe sold the most among the new models inSeptember, at 7,378, an increase of 19 percent over last year, amarked improvement over August sales of 4,524, indicating theattractiveness of the newer model.

Hyundai last month said that it aimed to sell 100,000 of thenewly remodeled Santa Fe vehicles in the 2013 model year in theU.S. market.

The Lexus ES, from Toyota Motor Corp , sold6,553 vehicles in September in the U.S. market, up 81 percentfrom a year ago. A Lexus spokesman said that 80 percent of thecars sold in September were the new 2013 model.

Dart's September U.S. sales were 5,235, up from August salesof 3,045.

In its first full month of sales, Subaru's XV Crosstrek'sSeptember sales were 192.

While 73 percent of the models IIHS tested last yearreceived the top safety rating, next year's test will be morestringent.

The new front crash tests will evaluate a vehicle's safetyin a crash that impacts the front corners. This will be moredemanding because most manufacturers create a structure forvehicles that can better absorb middle-front collisions.

In a recent test of 11 luxury midsize cars by using the newcorner-front crash evaluation, only two models earned the topsafety ranking, the IIHS said.

Subaru is owned by Fuji Heavy Industries of Japan.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Richard Chang)

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Keywords: CHRYSLER DART/