Hyundai wins most safety awards in US assessment

Hyundai Motor Group announced Wednesday that it has won the highest number of vehicle safety awards from the US Insurance Institute of Highway Safety among all assessed global automakers this year.

According to the South Korean automaker, its three brands -- Hyundai Motor Company, Kia and Genesis -- won a combined 16 Top Safety Pick and TSP+ awards at this year’s annual assessment.

“Hyundai Motor Group is proud to have earned the industry leadership position in the recent IIHS 2024 TSP and TSP+ award results,” said Brian Latouf, global chief safety and quality officer at Hyundai Motor Group.

“At Hyundai, safety is foundational for our vehicle designs as demonstrated by obtaining the industry’s best safety accolades for 16 of our products.”

By brand, Hyundai Motor Company and Genesis each won seven safety awards while Kia took home two honors. The three brands’ award-winning vehicles are the Kona, the Ioniq 6, the Elantra, the Ioniq 5, the Tucson, the Palisade, the Santa Cruz, the Electrified G80, the GV60, the GV80, the G80, the G90, the Electrified GV70, the GV70, the Telluride and the Sportage.

Toyota claimed eight awards as the single brand with the most number of TSP and TSP+. But as Lexus, Toyota’s premium brand, won five awards, the Japanese auto giant claimed 13 honors in total.

The IIHS, which was established in 1959 as an independent, nonprofit organization, handed out safety awards to 71 car models this year.

For this year’s TSP and TSP+ awards, the IIHS raised the standards as it challenged automakers to improve protection for rear-seat passengers and upgrade pedestrian crash avoidance systems. According to the IIHS, its updated moderate front overlap test, which involved a second dummy seated behind the driver, focuses on rear seat safety and replaced the original evaluation for this year’s TSP+ requirements.

“We followed the tougher requirements we introduced last year with another major update to the award criteria in 2024,” said IIHS President David Harkey.

“This year’s winners are true standouts, offering the highest level of protection for both vehicle occupants and other vulnerable road users.”

Vehicles have to earn a good rating in the small overlap front, original moderate overlap front and updated side tests to qualify for an IIHS TSP award. For the higher honor of TSP+, cars must earn good ratings in the small overlap front, updated side tests and at least an acceptable rating for the updated moderate front crash test.

Both awards also require an acceptable or good rating for pedestrian front crash prevention and an acceptable or good rating for headlights equipped on all trim levels.

“We appreciate the more challenging requirements that the IIHS required in 2024 to earn the TSP and TSP+ awards,” said Latouf.

“The changes made to our vehicles to win these tougher awards offer the highest level of protection for our customers and other vulnerable road users. Safety is a top priority for our company and the commitment to our customers is evidenced by these recent accolades.”