For the first time, three Hyundai models have earned the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award. The Hyundai Veracruz and Santa Fe received awards in the midsize SUV segment and the Hyundai Entourage in the minivan segment.
All winning vehicles are recognized for their ability to protect people in front, side and rear crashes.
This marks the third straight the Entourage has received the highest honor — the IIHS Top Safety Pick award in the minivan category. All three vehicles also earned five-star crash test ratings, the highest government rating under NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program, for both frontal and side impact.
Top Safety Pick awards recognize vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side and rear crashes based on ratings in the Institute’s tests.
Each vehicle’s overall evaluation is based on a variety of measures including injuries to dummies, vehicle’s structural performance, restraint performance, etc. Winners are also required to be equipped with the latest crash prevention technology, electronic stability control (ESC) – which is standard on all three Hyundai Top Safety Pick vehicles and on 73 percent of all Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S.
According to the IIHS, “Designating winners based on the tests makes it easier for consumers to identify vehicles that afford the best overall protection without sifting through multiple sets of comparative crash test results.”
“Hyundai has more 2008 IIHS Top Safety Picks than BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Toyota,” said John Krafcik, vice president of strategic planning and product development, Hyundai Motor America. “That’s a pretty good indication that we know what we’re doing when it comes to combining industry-leading safety with industry-leading value.”
The Entourage minivan is sold only in North America.
Article Last Updated: July 29, 2013.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
