Kia has announced that it received the 2022 TOP SAFETY PICK and TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards for 8 of its vehicles. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) from the United States listed them as the 2nd safest vehicles from Kia. The vehicles in question are the Kia Telluride, Sorento, Seltos, Carnival built after March 2021 (with specific headlights). Additionally, the Kia Sportage and Soul (with optional front crash prevention and specific headlights) also won the TSP awards.
Kia America states that the 8 TOP SAFETY PICK and TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards represent their continued efforts for safety. The company states that they ensure to deliver the highest standards for crash readiness, structural integrity, and available safety systems. This has allowed the automaker to expand its customer base across the United States and other global markets. Meanwhile, Kia also announced that it aims to make a monumental shift towards electrification with their next generation of vehicles.
All 2022 TSP winners earned ‘Good’ ratings in 6 crashworthiness tests that involved a variety of vehicle angles and sides. These are driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength, and head restraint tests. Additionally, the vehicles also received “Advanced” or “Superior” ratings based on vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention evaluations. IIHS states that every vehicle must have at least one available headlight system with a ‘Good’ or ‘Acceptable’ rating.
Meanwhile, Kia India recently announced its plans of increasing production by implementing the 3rd shift at its Anantapur Plant. By 2022, Kia India aims to produce 3 lakh vehicles annually via its state-of-the-art facility, contributing to 10% of global production. For comparison, Kia India’s Anantapur Plant produced 8% of the brand’s global output, translating to 2 lakh vehicles annually.
Kia’s annual sales figures throughout the Indian market has been increasing at a rapid rate thanks to their unique services. This has allowed the automaker to become one of India’s fastest growing OEMs in 2021, along with its product portfolio. Kia India speculates that it will witness an estimated growth of 33% or sell 2,43,000 units in 2022.
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