Kia is World’s Safest Automaker

Buying a new car is not all about style and fuel efficiency. Of course, another decisive factor for consumers is the capability of the vehicle to keep its passengers safe. Which is why talk of Top Safety Pick awards and similar recognitions always interests buyers.

In a recent report, it was revealed that mainstream carmakers Mazda and Kia are among the car brands that earned the most Top Safety Pick ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).

In 2017, Mazda was the only car brand to receive the Top Safety Pick+ rating from the organization for its CX-5, which also earned the recognition for the fifth straight year at the time. In 2018, Hyundai was acknowledged as the world’s safest automaker with a total of 10 vehicles earning a Top Safety Pick or Top safety Pick+ rating from the IIHS. But this year, Hyundai lost its crown to its corporate sibling, Kia.

Just recently, the 2020 Kia Telluride received a Top Safety Pick rating from the IIHS. It fell a little short of Top Safety Pick+ nod because of its headlights. But this doesn’t mean Kia’s vehicles are subpar.

In fact, the automaker has a total of five vehicles with Top Safety Pick ratings and seven more were given the high recognition of being a Top Safety Pick+ awardee.

“We are extremely proud of this significant achievement,” said Orth Hedrick, Executive Director for Car Planning and Technology at Kia Motors America. “We constantly strive to build the best quality and safest vehicles possible and being the automaker with the most TSP and TSP+ ratings is ultimately gratifying.”

Among Kia’s TSP-rated vehicles are the Rio sedan, Rio hatchback, Cadenza, Telluride, and 2019 Soul. The TSP+ models, on the other hand, include the Forte, Niro, Niro Plug-in, 2020 Soul, Optima, Stinger, and Sorento.