A new crash test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reveals industry-wide weaknesses in luxury passenger cars.

According to test results, only three of the eleven 2012 mid-size luxury and near-luxury cars tested received a good or acceptable rating in the new frontal crash test.

Rather than the head-on crashes conducted in other tests, the new frontal overlap crash test sends only 25 percent of a car's front end into a 5-foot barrier at 40 mph, with a crash test dummy seat belted into the driver's seat.

The new test is designed to better replicate what occurs in most front-end crashes, where only the front corner of the vehicle collides with another vehicle or a stationary object.

The test results reveal an industry-wide weakness in luxury and near-luxury automobiles, in which the outer edges of the front end of the cars aren't well protected by crush-zone structures.

Two luxury models - the Acura TL and Volvo S60 - received good ratings, and the Infiniti G earned an acceptable rating.

The Acura TSX, BMW 3 series, Lincoln MKZ and Volkswagen CC earned only marginal ratings in the test, while the Mercedes Benz C-Class, Lexus IS 250/350, Audi A4 and Lexus ES350 all received poor ratings.