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Genesis, Kia, Lexus EVs earn spots on the IIHS Top Safety Picks+ list

A trio of 2023 electric vehicles — the Hyundai Ioniq 6, Lexus RZ, and Genesis Electrified GV70 — have just earned the Top Safety Pick+ rating by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The prestigious award from the IIHS requires that the cars and SUVs achieve top scores in a number of crash tests and that they have an “Advanced” or “Superior” front crash avoidance system that activates to help inattentive drivers prevent vehicle or pedestrian crashes. Previous selections for the award among EVs have included the Rivian R1T/R1S, Kia EV6, Hyundai IONIQ 5, and Tesla Models 3/Y. To earn the “+” designation, the agency stipulates that headlights rated “Acceptable or Good” must be standard across all trims, and that a front crash prevention system that earns Advanced or Superior ratings in both the daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian evaluations be available. The GV70 earned “Advanced” ratings in both the daytime and nighttime vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention evaluations. The Ioniq 6 and the Lexus RZ earned “Superior” ratings in these two tests. “To be environmentally friendly, our vehicles and our cities also need to be pedestrian-friendly,” said IIHS President David Harkey. “All three of these vehicles have standard front crash prevention systems designed to protect pedestrians both during the day and at night, when most fatal pedestrian crashes happen.” Overall in its latest list, the IIHS named 51 cars in the “Top Safety Pick+” grouping, and 25 in the secondary Top Safety Pick tier. ThatÂ’s down from 101 total award-winning models last year, likely because the organization has implemented its tough new side-impact test and is also testing for night-time pedestrian detection for collision warning and prevention systems. The IIHS is one of two major automotive safety rating organizations, along with the federal government's National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. IIHS is a private organization funded by insurance companies. By the Numbers Genesis Kia Lexus Green Automakers Insurance Safety Electric

Sales incentive growth clustered around brands with few CUVs, trucks

While it's arguably been around the longest, the dominance of the four-door sedan has been under threat for many years. As a further sign of the hurtin' that SUVs and crossovers have put on today's four-doors, a new report from Automotive News points to the increasing use of incentives by brands reliant on cars and light on CUVs and pickups.
Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Kia have all been stung by double-digit increases in their incentives-to-transaction price ratio, according to AN, which cites data from TrueCar. Honda's ratio is up 14 percent, while Toyota, VW and Kia are up 18, 15 and 19 percent, respectively.
"Most of the incentive growth we have seen is in product segments with low demand - midsized or large sedans," TrueCar CEO John Krafcik told AN. "As this trend goes on, the brands with three-sedan strategies are going to be in worse shape on incentive spending than the crossover brands."

2020 Kia Telluride picks up second highest Top Safety Pick award

The 2020 Kia Telluride has impressed us every time we've been behind the wheel. And now it has impressive safety scores. The IIHS tested the large crossover, and it earned the second-highest rating of Top Safety Pick, just behind the Top Safety Pick + rating. In every crash test, including small-offset crashes, the Telluride received the highest "Good" rating. The standard forward collision prevention also received the highest "Superior" score since it provided adequate warning and stopped the car from colliding with a vehicle in front of it at speeds up to 25 mph. What kept the Telluride from the Top Safety Pick + rating was headlight performance, which has tripped up so many other vehicles. The base model's halogen headlights were given the lowest "Poor" rating, and the higher-trim LED headlights got the second highest score of "Acceptable." Headlights with "Good" performance are required for Top Safety Pick + rating. Also worth noting is the child seat LATCH anchor access, which was also rated as "Acceptable." As for the Telluride's competition, the Honda Pilot, Mazda CX-9, Toyota Highlander, Hyundai Santa Fe XL and Nissan Pathfinder all share the same Top Safety Pick rating. Only the Subaru Ascent tops them as a Top Safety Pick +. Going down slightly in size, the Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe also get the Top Safety Pick + rating.