You know that foreign automaker that wins every safety award? The company that saw every single vehicle it builds win the highest mark from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) this year? No, no, not Volvo. The other one.
Genesis.
The luxury arm of Korea’s Hyundai is just the second automaker ever to be able to make this claim. Every car it builds earned the highest possible safety award from the IIHS.
About the IIHS
The IIHS is an auto safety lab funded by a consortium of insurance companies. It performs its own safety tests, in some ways more rigorous than those performed by the government.
The institute this week announced that the 2021 G70 sedan and GV70 SUV have each taken home the Top Safety Pick+ award, its highest honor.
That makes Genesis just the second automaker to earn the badge for its entire lineup of vehicles.
Volvo earned the distinction back in April.
Award Criteria
To earn the Top Safety Pick+ honor, a car must achieve the top score (“good”) in a series of crash tests. They include frontal collisions from several angles, a side impact test, a roof strength, and a head restraint test. It must also achieve an “advanced” or “superior” rating in two front crash-prevention tests – one involving another car and one involving a pedestrian. Finally, it must come standard with headlights the institute evaluates as “good’ or “acceptable.”
Vehicles that offer such headlights as an added-cost option are eligible for the lesser Top Safety Pick award, but not the plus.
When Genesis introduced the G70, it was eligible only for the lesser award. Starting in June, Genesis made premium headlights standard equipment. That gave the G70 the coveted plus sign for its badge.
