Kia’s compact Sportage SUV was named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Following updates made to its side structure, the 2024 model is being promoted to Top Safety Pick+, the agency’s highest award.
IIHS updated the requirements for its honors this year, enacting a more forceful side impact crash test and demanding better results for headlights and collision avoidance. The agency rates crash protection and headlight performance on a scale of poor, marginal, acceptable or good, and active-safety systems on a scale of basic, advanced or superior. To qualify as a Top Safety Pick+, vehicles must earn a good rating in three different front crash tests and a side impact evaluation. Additionally, their standard headlights must rank at least acceptable, and a forward collision prevention system that rates advanced or superior in both daytime and nighttime pedestrian detection tests must be available.
The 2024 Kia Sportage aced its crash tests, and the standard LED projector headlights rated as acceptable. (IIHS stuck the standard headlights of the 2023 model with a poor rating.) Both the standard and optional crash prevention systems earned superior ratings in the daytime evaluation and advanced ratings in the nighttime tests. The Sportage joins Kia’s 2023 Telluride three-row SUV on the list of Top Safety Pick+ winners.
