Hyundai Leads IIHS Safety Awards with Excellence

A total of 71 different vehicle models received the Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ designation this year, even as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) challenged manufacturers with stricter testing standards.

“We made things harder for automakers last year by tightening our side crash test… This year, we raised the bar again with an updated front crash test that focuses on the passenger’s side,” said David Harkey, president of the IIHS trade group.

Among them, Hyundai Motor, which includes the Genesis, Hyundai and Kia Brands, secured the most awards on IIHS’ preliminary list of the safest vehicles. Specifically, Hyundai Motorsecured a total of six IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards, for the Hyundai Ioniq 6, Kia Telluride, and Genesis GV60 models along with ten Top Safety Pick awards for Hyundai Elantra and Genesis G90. Thus, Hyundai Motor had an impressive total of 16 IIHS safety awards this year.

Originally, to qualify for a Top Safety Pick award, vehicles needed to earn an Acceptable or Good rating in a range of crash tests. However, for 2024, the institute demands a Good rating for both levels of Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+.

In addition, qualifying vehicles must also have an Acceptable or Good rating in the IIHS frontal crash prevention tests involving pedestrians. The newer version of the test replaces separate daytime and nighttime evaluations with a combined rating.

Of the total 71 vehicles receiving awards, 22 earned the Top Safety Pick+ designation, while the remaining 49 earned Top Safety Pick. This represents more than double last year’s 20 Top Safety Pick count, as the Top Safety Pick+ count fell by six from last year’s 28.

“The winners of this year’s awards are impressive vehicles that provide the highest level of protection for both the driver and passengers, and the vehicles more than meet the Institute’s requirements”, said David Harkey, IIHS president in a statement.

TT (Tuoitrethudo)