The latest US model of the Hyundai Elantra, now in its sixth generation, has received a Top Safety Pick Plus rating from IIHS (Insurance Institute of Highway Safety). This is the highest safety rating and only applies to Elantras produced after March 2016.
Additional modifications were made to the new Hyundai Elantra in comparison to its earlier model. These changes include strengthening the junction between the door sill and the hinge pillar and updating the frontal airbag. This in turn helped the latest iteration of the sedan to show an improvement over the previous Elantra. For example, the new Elantra showed just 2 inches of cabin intrusion in the small overlap frontal collision test, while the earlier car had suffered 9 inches of intrusion in the same test.
Thanks to the new Elantra's optional Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system, the car also successfully avoided a collision at speeds of around 20kmph on the IIHS's track test. The institute crash test is classified into five categories including roof strength, head restraints and seats, moderate overlap frontal collision, side impact, and small overlap frontal collision.
Hyundai has already launched the new Elantra overseas and is testing it on the Indian roads. The sedan is expected to be launched for the Indian market by the end of next month. It will compete with the Toyota Corolla Altis, Skoda Octavia and the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze when it goes on sale in the country.
