Hyundai Is Now One of the Safest Car Brands in America

An Expert In Safety

Car brands often claim to be the leading experts in something; this gives them an edge in attracting prospective customers. A common claim by car brands is fuel efficiency or environmental friendliness.

Others, though, are taking on the tough task of being the safest brands on the market. Safety can be tested and measured, but the standards or criteria used vary widely. The IIHS is considered one of the top safety testing and awarding bodies globally, and any recognition from them is high praise.

Going For Gold

Hyundai, as a brand, has in more recent times become a propagator of style, new technology, and safety. The latter seems to be shining through because the IIHS has just given them 7 TSP awards. 6 models in the lineup get the highest TSP+, while 1 car wins a TSP award. Specifically, the IONIQ 5, IONIQ 9, Sonata, Kona, Tucson, and Santa Fe are now TSP+ cars, and the Elantra bags the TSP certification.

Winning a total of seven top IIHS awards is no easy task, given that for 2026, the IIHS imposed new, stricter safety standards and criteria. Most of the new standards are geared towards assessing how much safer cars are for rear-passenger occupants and how well they prevent crashes involving pedestrians and other vehicles. IIHS President David Harkey said that they’re asking brands to make excellent protection for rear passengers the norm. He further added that TSP+ brands need to improve crash-avoidance systems.

In order to get the top TSP awards, cars must now be graded as “good” when it comes to the moderate front overlap test, as opposed to last year’s criteria of only needing a classification of “acceptable.” The backbone of Hyundai’s safety success is the proprietary Smartsense suite, which includes features such as Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Driver Attention Warning, Forward Collision Assist, Forward Collision Assist with Pedestrian Detection, Rear Occupant Alert (door logic), and High Beam Assist.

All In The Family

With Hyundai’s latest haul of TSP awards, the company is now the second most awarded in the U.S., second only to Mazda by a small margin. However, the Hyundai Group as a whole is the most awarded in the U.S. if you account for Kia and Genesis as well. The group now has and sells 21 models with TSP+ and TSP distinctions. Looking at the IIHS chart of models with TSP and TSP+ awards (as of March 2026), the Hyundai group accounts for 3 of the Top 5 brands, the other 2 being Mazda and Audi.