2014 Kia Sedona Joins 5-Star Safety Club

The 2014 Kia Sedona received just a minor update for the current model year, but it will be able to offer a major new advantage. That would be a 5-star Overall Safety Score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which awarded the Sedona 5 stars in both frontal- and side-crash occupant protection, as well as 4 stars for rollover protection. And safety-minded readers should be aware that top NHTSA scores are hardly fait accompli for the minivan segment.

Although the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna join the 2014 Kia Sedona in achieving 5-star Overall Safety Scores, the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan come up just short, with 4-star grades. Unfortunately, though, it’s Sedona that’s currently coming up short in the sales race. Here’s the year-to-date leaderboard for the minivan category through November:

• Honda Odyssey—116,880 sales, up .1 percent
• Dodge Grand Caravan—112,793 sales, down 11.4 percent
• Chrysler Town & Country—112,551 sales, up 9.8 percent
• Toyota Sienna—111,737 sales, up 7.6 percent
• Nissan Quest—12,006 sales, down 29.7 percent
• Kia Sedona—6,758 sales, down 60.8 percent

On the other hand, low sales often mean big deals, and the 2014 Kia Sedona already starts with one of the lowest MSRPs in the segment, at $25,900.

The party line from Michael Sprague, executive vice president of Marketing & Communications for Kia Motors America, did note that: “The Sedona earning NHTSA’s 5-Star safety rating is an honor and an accomplishment. Kia’s rise over the last five years has been fueled by offering the right combination of design, quality, value and safety to our customers, and the 5-star accolade for the Sedona is the kind of reassurance minivan buyers are looking for when shopping for a new vehicle.”

(The 2014 Kia Sedona has not been tested for Top Safety Pick designation by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.)