Hyundai Motor Group said Thursday it has earned the most safety pick awards from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), beating rivals such as Volkswagen and Volvo.

Eleven models from the South Korean automotive group garnered the Top Safety Pick+ (TSP+) awards and 10 models obtained the Top Safety Pick (TSP) awards, Hyundai said in a statement.

The group has Hyundai Motor Co., its independent Genesis brand, and affiliate Kia Corp., under its wing.

The 11 TSP+ winners are Hyundai's Tucson, Santa Fe, Palisade SUVs, and the Nexo hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicle; Genesis' G70, G80, G90 sedans, GV70 and GV80 SUVs; Kia's K5 sedan and Stinger sports car.

The 10 TSP models are Hyundai's Venue subcompact, Elantra (or Avante) compact, Sonata sedan, Santa Cruz SUV; Kia's soul box car, Seltos subcompact, Sportage, Sorento and Telluride SUVs and Carnival minivan.

This year, the nonprofit IIHS selected 65 TSP+ models and 36 TSP models after testing hundreds of new models in five categories of moderate overlap front, driver-side small overlap front, side, roof strength and seat head restraint tests.

Vehicles are graded on a "Good," "Acceptable," "Marginal," or "Poor" rating after testing.

If a vehicle receives "Good" overall ratings in the five categories, the model is awarded a TSP. If it also gets good ratings on its headlights and in the passenger-side small overlap test, the award is upgraded to a TSP+ award.

Volkswagen, which includes Volkswagen and Audi brands, had the second most picks with eight TSP+ and 3 TSP models. Volvo ranked third with 10 TSP+ winners. (Yonhap)