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2010 Kia Forte Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick Award


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See Also: Kia Buyers Guide

The Kia Forte is the third model from Hyundai/Kia to earn the Institute's top safety designation for 2010 (Kia Soul and Hyundai Sonata are the other winners). To win, vehicles must earn the top rating of good for front, side, rollover, and rear impact protection and have electronic stability control (ESC), which is standard on the Forte.

The Forte, a new small car introduced for the 2010 model year, replaces the Kia Spectra. The Spectra was rated acceptable for frontal crash protection and only marginal for side crash protection. ESC wasn't available even as an option on the Spectra.

Kia made changes to the Forte to earn good ratings in the Institute's front and side tests ( see test detail). The Top Safety Pick award applies to Fortes built after October 2009.