Genesis receives top safety rating

Genesis, a premium sedan by Hyundai Motor, was chosen as the safest car of the year on Wednesday by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

According to Korea New Car Assessment Program (Kncap) results, the second-generation Genesis received an overall score of 96.6 points, followed by Kia’s Sorento SUV (92.1) and Carnival minivan (91).

The Volkswagen Golf (90.3) and Mercedes-Benz E300 (90.2) were the top two imported vehicles.

This year, the ministry and Korea Transportation Safety Authority tested 13 models (seven domestic and six foreign) for crash safety, pedestrian safety, driving safety and accident prevention.

Of the 13 models, 10 earned Class 1 ratings. GM Korea’s Spark EV became the first electric vehicle to receive the top rating.

The Class 1 rating is given to models that score more than 83 points, while cars that scored between 80.1 and 83 points are Class 2. There are three other classes.

Renault Samsung Motors’ QM3 compact crossover received a Class 5 rating although its overall score (78.9) was equivalent to Class 3, because it did so poorly in the crash test.

In crash safety, theGenesis and Sonata, along with GM Korea’s Cruze sedan, scored 97.7 points to top the category.

In pedestrian safety, Hyundai Genesis again was the top scorer with 85.7 points followed by the Volkswagen Golf (75.3) and Kia Sorento (75). The Ford Explorer SUV scored only 36.7 points.

In driving safety, which measures rollovers and braking distance, Audi A6 was No.1 with 96 points, followed by the Mercedes-Benz E300 with 95. Hyundai Genesis and the Volkswagen Golf had 94 points.

In terms of accident prevention, the ministry gave additional points to seven models equipped with forward-collision warning detectors, lane-departure warning systems and warning calls for not wearing seat belts.

In last year’s test, only two models received additional points.

The ministry said the average score was 87.5, up 1.8 points from last year. By category, pedestrian protection showed the largest improvement of six points on average.

For next year’s evaluation, the ministry said that it will focus on looking whether seat belt alarming system also applies to rear seats.

BY JOO KYUNG-DON [kjoo@joongang.co.kr]