Hyundai Motor Co.’s brand-new Genesis midsize premium sedan received the best rating in all safety categories tested by a U.S. motor safety institute, the South Korean carmaker said Thursday.

The new model won the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s “2014 Top Safety Pick+” award by getting the best “good” rating on all 29 safety categories checked, according to Hyundai.

The award marks the first time ever that a rear-wheel drive vehicle in the class got the top honor, with the Genesis also being the only RWD luxury sedan to earn the coveted “good” mark for the small overlap crash test, Hyundai said.

In the past, cars with rear-wheel drive were at a disadvantage in the small overlap test because they have longitudinally mounted engines that prevent them from acting as an additional barrier in crashes involving a small part of the vehicle’s front. Front-wheel drive vehicles that have transversely mounted engines do not suffer from this design shortcoming.

When the new Genesis was launched, Hyundai had emphasized that it used high-tensile steel for 51.5 percent of the car frame, which not only enhances stiffness and is critical for better driving dynamics, but also passenger safety. (Yonhap)