Kia delivers top safety again, now with the K4
The New Car Assessment Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin NCAP, publishes today the fifth crash tests result for 2025 with five stars for the recently launched Kia K4.
The Kia K4 sedan and hatchback, produced in Mexico, achieved five stars. The K4 offers 6 airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) as standard and ADAS technologies as optional, achieved 91.87% in Adult Occupant, 90.38% in Child Occupant, 77.10% in Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users and 84.30% in Safety Assist. The car was assessed in frontal impact, side impact, side pole impact, whiplash, pedestrian protection, ESC, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) for Vulnerable Road Users (VRU), AEB City, AEB Interurban and Speed Assist System (SAS).
The Kia K4 showed, in general, good performance with stable structure in the frontal impact and full protection to head, neck and chest of the adult in the frontal and side barrier crash tests. The model showed full child occupant protection in the crash tests. Installation of belted CRSs in the rear central position should be improved. The car showed in general good to adequate Pedestrian Protection with small areas of weak and poor protection towards the windscreen and A pillars. AEB performance showed robust response in all test scenarios. Speed Assist System met the technical requirements and is fitted as standard. Blind Spot Detection and Lane Support Systems are available as optional but were not tested by Latin NCAP. The model was tested as a voluntary decision of the manufacturer.
Latin NCAP tests the most basic passive safety specification of the models and strongly recommends to buy those versions equipped with tested good performing ADAS technologies, such as AEB.
Alejandro Furas, Secretary General of Latin NCAP said:
“Congratulations to Kia that continues to demonstrate a solid progress towards five-star cars showing the manufacturer’s commitment to standard top safety. Latin NCAP expects Kia to continue this path and lead other car manufacturers in the same line. Mandatory labelling can be a game changer to accelerate the introduction of safer and more affordable cars in Latin America and the Caribbean. By adopting mandatory labelling, governments in the region will bring support to independent and clear information to consumers at least to the top selling models in each market”.
Stephan Brodziak, Latin NCAP Chairman said:
“Kia has shown a path of strong contrasts in Latin NCAP: while in the past it obtained very poor results for best-selling models such as the Rio and the Picanto, in recent years it has made firm progress towards safer vehicles with good results such as the improvement of the Sportage, the five-star K3 in 2024, and now the K4, which also achieves five stars. This progress proves that when manufacturers decide to invest in the safety of consumers in Latin America and the Caribbean, positive results follow. However, to ensure that all consumers can access this information for more models and make purchasing decisions, it is essential that governments implement mandatory and visible vehicle safety labeling. Only then can safety achievements stop being limited to a few models and become the minimum standard expected across the entire region”.
Kia K4 (6 airbags)
Read the full crash test report
Watch the crash test video
Download crash test images
NCAP25
Latin NCAP is pleased to support NCAP25, the Global NCAP World Congress, which will be held in Shanghai this October. Following the success of NCAP24 in Munich, NCAP25 continues the momentum of stakeholder collaboration, multi-sector dialogue, and vehicle safety innovation.
Hosted in partnership with C-NCAP and CATARC, NCAP25 will bring together NCAP representatives, policymakers, manufacturers, consumer advocates, civil society leaders, and technology innovators from across the world to align on vehicle safety priorities.
Register: https://www.globalncap.org/ncap25
Sponsor: https://www.ncap25congress.com/CX/NCAP/#/partners
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