Redesigned Azera an IIHS Top Safety Pick

[Hyundai NEWS]

It’s official: After passing strenuous tests for front, rear, side and rollover crash protection—and achieving the top scores in all areas—the 2012 Hyundai Azera has been named a Top Safety Pick of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The honor owes much to the diligent work of Hyundai engineers, who put in a typically superior effort on the Azera. The expressively designed full-size sedan has been outfitted with safety measures such as:

• Nine standard airbags, including dual front, front and rear seat-mounted side-impact, front and rear side curtain airbags, and a driver’s knee airbag
• Hyundai’s Vehicle Stability Management system, which oversees the functionality of the Azera’s electronic stability control and motor-driven electric power steering for optimum performance
• State-of-the-art braking capabilities, thanks to four-wheel disc brakes, ABS, brake assist and electronic brake-force distribution
• Redesigned front seats that are expected to reduce head and neck injuries by 17 percent as compared to the previous Azera

All this safety protection is then wrapped in the latest expression of Hyundai’s fluidic sculpture design language and powered by a new 3.3-liter V6 with gasoline direct injection. That advanced engine technology allows the Azera to boast more standard horsepower than rivals like the Ford Taurus, Toyota Avalon and Nissan Maxima, yet still attain a best-in-class mark for combined fuel economy.
The tale of the tape: 293 hp and an EPA line of 20 mpg city/29 mpg highway/23 mpg combined.
With the addition of the Azera, the automaker now boasts a septet of Top Safety Picks that also features the Hyundai Elantra, Hyundai Sonata, Hyundai Genesis, Hyundai Equus, Hyundai Tucson and Hyundai Santa Fe.