Kia Telluride Wins Top IIHS Safety Award — but Only If It Was Built After June
The redesigned three-row SUV aced every IIHS crash test, but the award skips early-production models that shipped with weaker headlights.
The second-generation Kia Telluride has picked up the toughest accolade in US crash testing, the IIHS 2026 Top Safety Pick+ — with a catch that matters if you're shopping for one. The award covers only SUVs built after June 2026, because earlier examples left the factory with headlights the institute graded Marginal.
Kia swapped in better lights partway through the production year, and Tellurides assembled since then score Good in every category the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety measures: the small overlap front, moderate overlap front, and side crash tests, plus headlights and both front crash prevention evaluations.
That clean sweep is rarer than it sounds. The Telluride was one of seven vehicles in the institute's latest ratings batch, and only two walked away with an award — the Kia and the redesigned Tesla Model Y. The BMW 3 Series and i4, Lexus IS, GMC Canyon, and Toyota Crown Signia all fell short, mostly tripped up by the updated moderate overlap test, which now scores how well a vehicle protects passengers in the back seat.
Kia credits a stiffer body structure and 10 standard airbags, including a center airbag that deploys between the front seats. The third-row belts get pre-tensioners, the second-row buckles are illuminated, and the automaker says the driver-assistance roster has grown to include hands-on detection, an in-cabin camera, and forward parking sensors.
The redesigned Telluride reached US dealers in the first quarter of this year, starting at $40,735 with the $1,545 destination charge — roughly $3,000 more than the outgoing model. It also brought the nameplate's first hybrid, a 329-hp turbocharged setup rated at an EPA-estimated 35 mpg combined in EX front-drive form, priced from $46,490 before destination. Kia skipped the 2026 model year entirely, jumping straight from the 2025 Telluride to the new car.
The award gives Kia five models with the 2026 Top Safety Pick+ badge, alongside the K4, EV9, Sorento, and Sportage — and keeps it level with corporate sibling Hyundai in the three-row segment. The related Palisade earned the same designation in May, also with a build-date condition: only SUVs assembled after November 2025 qualify. Mid-cycle fixes chasing IIHS criteria are becoming a pattern across the industry, as the institute keeps tightening requirements faster than automakers can bake them into launch hardware.
For buyers, the takeaway is simple: two otherwise identical 2027 Tellurides can sit on the same lot, and only the one built after June carries the award. The production date is printed on the driver's door jamb, so it's worth a look before signing anything.
