The five awarded vehicles are comprised of Honda‘s 2-door and 4-door Civic, Volvo’s XC60, Ford‘s Lincoln MKZ, and the Mazda6. All but the Mazda6 are 2013 models, with the Mazda6 being the 2014 model. The Institute’s crash test put a quarter of each vehicle’s front end into a 5-foot barrier at a speed of 40mph.

Other tests include rear, rollover, and side tests, as well as one designed to see how the car holds up when the front corner is crashed into a pole or car. The latter is known as the “small overlap test,” with vehicle’s being rated with either a “good” or “acceptable” rating, which is then factored into the ratings of the other tests.

Honda’s Civic stood out among the winners, being the first small car to be bestowed with the Top Safety Pick+ award. The car underwent “significant” changes and upgrades to its front end in order to improve its rating on the small overlap test. In addition, Volvo also made changes to score better on that test, updating its airbag algorithm so the side curtain airbag would be triggered by the impact.

[via Detroit News]

Samsung ended up going all out this year for their Super Bowl ad, taking up a full two minutes of airtime, costing them around $16 million after it was all said and done. Actors Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd, as well as NBA all-star LeBron James made appearances in the commercial, and discussed some ideas on what Samsung’s “next big thing” could be. BlackBerry (formerly known as RIM) aired their first-ever Super Bowl ad, spending a few million dollars on an ad showing off the new BlackBerry Z10, which according to the ad, will light you on fire, so be careful.

Best Buy ended up airing their own Super Bowl ad as well, and it features SNL alum and Parks & Recreation star Amy Poehler, who is pretty much the most adorable and funniest woman in show business right now, so we have to give it up for Best Buy for pulling off such a cute and witty ad.

We knew GoDaddy would make an appearance at the Super Bowl, as they do every year, but this time they aired two ads, one featuring the typical sexy theme that you know and love, and then there was an ad that actually wasn’t that bad. The company advertised their .co domain names, and the ad rings true of anyone with an original idea these days.

As far as the automotive commercials, it was a hit or miss mostly. Audi’s “Prom” ad was probably our favorite one out of the bunch, with Dodge’s “Paul Harvey” commercial at a close second. Other car ads included VW’s semi-racist Jamaican ad, Hyundai’s adorable “Team” ad featuring kids with super powers, Kia’s “Hotbots” ad, Mercedes-Benz with their celebrity-filled commercial (as well as one featuring Kate Upton), Lincoln’s Jimmy Fallon ad and “Phoenix” teaser, and an awkward Toyota ad featuring Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco.

Movie trailers were also hot stuff during Super Bowl commercial breaks. The Iron Man 3 trailer caught our eye the most, with Star Trek: Into Darkness also showing off a quick teaser for us. World War Z also made a quick appearance, and we also saw an extended teaser for Johnny Depp’s upcoming movie, The Lone Ranger.

Now we want to hear what you think. We know not every ad this year was amazing, and some were iffy at best. What was your favorite commercial from the Super Bowl? Which tech company blew it out of the park? Which one could’ve been better? What suggestions would you make to the creators of the ads? Sound off in the comments below!

Lincoln’s target is both those drivers looking to step up to their first luxury car, and those stepping down in size but not wanting to sacrifice comfort on the move. For that audience, the MKC Concept borrows cues from previous Lincoln cars but also throws in some new material of its own; the rear tailgate, for instance, wraps around the edges of the car, so that the MKC’s designers could splay the lights right across without a cutline.

A fixed panoramic roof keeps things airy inside – helped by the white leather, which continues up the pillars, the door trip uppers, edges of the console, and even parts of the cargo area – while wood has been treated with metallic flake for a Twilight-effect sparkle. Chrome features on the speaker grilles and the air vents, while there’s crimson highlight-stitching on the seats.

Right now, Lincoln is maintaining that the MKC Concept is just that – a concept – with no word of a potential release date. With the luxury SUV billed as “a vision of how Lincoln will enter the industry’s fastest-growing small luxury utility segment” and a push into the four highest-growth segments with new models over the next four years, however, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the MKC in showrooms soon.

SYNC AppLink has a number of benefits for the Rhapsody user who wants to use the streaming service in the car. While it was definitely possible to use Rhapsody in your car before this integration with Ford and Lincoln vehicles, AppLink will let you sync the app to your car, thus allowing you to control the app using the SYNC touch controls or the radio buttons on your steering wheel. This, in turns, lets you keep your eyes on the road, which means that you get the best of both worlds – you get to listen to Rhapsody while at the same time keeping the chances of a potentially nasty crash low.

Setup seems pretty easy too, with Rhapsody’s mobile app connecting to AppLink via Bluetooth as soon as its started up. This partnership will probably be a big win for Rhapsody, as the company recently polled its users to find out what they did for entertainment while driving in the car. 40% of them said they stream Rhapsody while only 13% listen to the radio, so if Rhapsody can make the streaming process easier for Ford and Lincoln owners, we might see that number rise.

In addition, Rhapsody has found that the number of users accessing the service through mobile devices is growing year after year, so this new team up with Ford could help that percentage grow as well. Given the fact that SYNC AppLink is available on 1 million different for vehicles (including the 2013 Fiesta, Mustang, Expedition, and F-150, among others), there should be a fair number of Ford users who can take advantage of this new functionality. Be sure to check out our CES portal for more from the show here in Las Vegas!

The Ford Motor Company will be bringing four new Lincoln luxury vehicles to the market between here and 2014, the MKC being one of them. There’s also a new MKZ planned, so says the same source, this being accompanied by a replacement for the larger MKS. The fourth vehicle has been tipped to be a complete replacement for the full-sized Navigator SUV.

The 2013 Lincoln MKZ that’s been out in the public eye for some time now is set as a precursor for the MKC, both vehicles said to be working with many of the same features, top to bottom. The MKC is said to be working with the same horizontal grille as its predecessor and will have the same C-segment platform as the Ford Escape and the Ford Focus. The new Lincoln MKZ has been tipped to be working with several different powertrain options including the Ford 2.0-liter EcoBoost or possibly the 1.6-liter turbocharged EcoBoost.

We’ll be seeing this vehicle within the next few weeks if not straight up in-person at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. This show also goes by the name North American International Auto Show and is set to be a massive display of excellence from car and truck brands from left to right, as always. Stick with SlashGear for the full scoop!

The commercial is 60-seconds in length, and will feature President Lincoln walking out of some mist. Also included in the commercial will be images of famous individuals who have owned Lincoln brand vehicles, including Dean Martin. This is all in a near-desperate push to distinguish the brand and correct ever-decreasing sales, which have dropped 63-percent since 1990.

Speaking about Ford’s efforts to reinvent the luxury brand and pull it up out of the dreck, Lincoln’s Director of Marketing, Sales, and Service Matt VanDyke offered this statement. “It’s our largest campaign ever from the size, scale and reach of it. Every touch point is being reinvented. Everything we’re doing is different.”

Ford plans to unveil the Lincoln MKZ, a luxury sedan with a starting price of $35,925. The MKZ features a panoramic glass roof, a push-button transmission, and a split-wing grill. So far, only 69,000 Lincoln vehicles have been sold in 2012. According to Bloomberg, the average cost of a one minute commercial during the 2012 Super Bowl was $7 million, so it’s safe to say that Ford is going all-out in its efforts to save Lincoln.

[via Bloomberg]

Lincoln says that its hybrid delivers more miles per gallon than any other luxury vehicle in America. The MKZ Hybrid is a mid-size vehicle slotting into the luxury segment of the market. Lincoln also notes that its hybrid vehicle gets two mpg better fuel efficiency in the city and five mpg better efficiency on the highway than the smaller Lexus CT 200h.

Lincoln says that the hybrid version of the MKZ is available with all the same options that the non-hybrid version of the car can be fitted with. The company points out that not all hybrids are available with all features of non-hybrid versions of the car. Lincoln includes Sync with MyLincoln Touch in the standard options package.

That system has an eight-inch touchscreen, and the vehicle gets premium leather seats that are heated in the front, LED headlamps, 18-inch wheels, and Lincoln Drive Control. The Lincoln MKZ Hybrid will hit dealer showrooms later this year with pricing starting at $35,925.