Hyundai Motor Group has announced that its brands — Hyundai Motor Company, Genesis Motor, and Kia Corporation — have collectively earned 16 safety awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) for the 2026 calendar year. The awards apply to U.S.-market models.
The results include 15 TOP SAFETY PICK+ (TSP+) awards and one TOP SAFETY PICK (TSP) rating, highlighting Hyundai Motor Group’s strong performance under the IIHS’s more stringent safety evaluation criteria introduced for 2026.
The achievement underscores the group’s continued emphasis on enhancing occupant protection, crashworthiness and advanced safety technologies across its vehicle lineup. With testing standards becoming increasingly demanding, the recognition reinforces Hyundai Motor Group’s focus on delivering safer vehicles across multiple segments.
Commenting on the achievement, Brian Latouf, President and Global Chief Safety and Quality Officer at Hyundai Motor Group, said, “Hyundai Motor Group is an industry leader in the 2026 IIHS Top Safety Pick program, with 16 awards across the Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia brands. This tremendous accomplishment reflects our continued focus on developing and producing safe vehicles. These results demonstrate the dedicated safety focus of our engineering teams and our commitment to achieving top safety performance across our portfolio.”
The latest awards further reinforce Hyundai Motor Group’s commitment to strengthening vehicle safety standards and advancing next-generation safety technologies across its global product range.
Hyundai Motor secured seven 2026 Top Safety awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), reinforcing the brand’s strong focus on crashworthiness and occupant protection. Six Hyundai models — Tucson, IONIQ 5, IONIQ 9, Kona, Santa Fe and Sonata — earned the highest Top Safety Pick+ (TSP+) rating, while the Elantra received the Top Safety Pick (TSP) designation. These awards apply to U.S.-spec models. All 2026 Hyundai vehicles come equipped with seven standard SmartSense safety features, including Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keeping Assist, Driver Attention Warning, Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist with pedestrian detection, Rear Occupant Alert and High Beam Assist. Additional optional SmartSense technologies further enhance driver awareness and occupant safety.
Genesis also performed strongly, earning five 2026 Top Safety Pick+ awards. The recognised models include GV70, Electrified GV70, GV60, G80 (built after June 2025) and GV80. The results highlight the luxury brand’s emphasis on both crash protection and preventative safety technologies. Genesis vehicles feature advanced driver-assistance systems such as Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist and advanced airbag systems, designed to reduce accident risks and improve occupant protection.
Kia secured four Top Safety Pick+ awards for 2026, with the EV9, all-new K4, Sorento (built after September 2025) and Sportage (built after May 2025) receiving top recognition. The awards reflect Kia’s commitment to safety through advanced driver-assistance technologies. Standard features such as Lane Keeping Assist and Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist help detect vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, while also supporting safer turns at intersections by identifying oncoming traffic.
For the 2026 calendar year, IIHS introduced tougher criteria, specifically focusing on the protection of back-seat passengers and improved crash avoidance systems. To qualify for 2026 TOP SAFETY PICK, vehicles need good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front and side tests as well as acceptable- or good-rated headlights across all trim levels. In addition, winners need standard front crash prevention systems that earn an acceptable or good rating in the pedestrian test. If optional front crash prevention systems are offered, they must also earn an acceptable or good rating.
To qualify for 2026 TOP SAFETY PICK+, vehicles need good ratings in the small overlap front, moderate overlap front and side tests as well as acceptable- or good-rated headlights across all trim levels. In addition, winners need standard front crash prevention systems that earn a good rating in the pedestrian test and an acceptable or good rating in the vehicle-to-vehicle 2.0 test. If optional front crash prevention systems are offered, they must also meet those criteria.
