Mercedes-Benz has always enjoyed a reputation for building some of the world’s safest cars. The performance of the latest C-Class in the US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety ‘occupant protection test’ certainly backs up that rep.

The IIHS awarded top marks to Benz’s smallest sedan in frontal, side and rear impacts, and judged it to be one of the safest passenger cars on the market. The IIHS glowing review also adds to the C-Class’s five-star Euro NCAP score, considered by many manufacturers to be the holy grail of safety ratings.

With eight airbags, anti-whiplash headrests and an energy-absorbing body, the C-Class is loaded to the armpits with safety features as standard equipment. In addition, Mercedes-Benz’s clever Pre-Safe system detects when a crash is imminent and rolls up windows, repositions seats and tensions seatbelts to help minimise injuries.

So, all you car freaks lusting after a C63 AMG now have a solid, practical, real-world reason for buying one - a reason that your ’significant other’ can’t possibly deny.