Hyundai Motor Co.'s full-sized, luxury sedan Aslan has been picked as the safest car in South Korea for 2015, the government said Tuesday.
  

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Aslan, first launched in 2014, received the highest marks in terms of passenger safety in the event of a collision, maximum protection for pedestrians, driving safety and accident prevention features.
  

The Aslan, built on the Grandeur-Azera platform, is designed mainly for the domestic market.
  

Of the 12 cars tested, eight including the Aslan, got the top safety grade, with two getting the next highest rating. The remaining two vehicles got the middle grade.

The Aslan got 97.3 points, with Infiniti's Q50 compact executive sedan and Ssangyong Motor Co.'s popular crossover the Tivoli all making the top three list, by receiving 92.1 points and 91.9 points, respectively. The Aslan got the safest car title for this year, with Q50 and Tivoli both getting the safe car award.
  

Besides the three models, Hyundai's Tucson crossover CUV, Kia Motors Corp's Optima midsize sedan and the electrified Soul multi-purpose vehicle, the BMW X3 SUV and Audi's A3 compact all were rated as safest cars operating in the country.
  

The runner ups were the Mini-Cooper made by Britain's Mini, and Hyundai's Grandeur hybrid electric vehicle.
  

Ford's full-size Taurus and Volkswagen's Polo supermini, ranked third, or the middle, of the five-tier evaluation table. 
  

The ministry said both the Aslan and Q50 got high marks for their active hoods that can protect pedestrians in the event of a collision, with the Hyundai sedan winning extra points for a seat belt reminder alarm system. Audi's A3 also has the SBR.
  

In collision tests, the Soul EV, Aslan and Tivoli got the best marks, while in the driving safety area, which covers breaking and vehicle overturns, the Aslan, Optima and Q50 got the top scores.
  

The ministry said overall safety of cars has been on the rise steadily in recent years as companies compete to install both active and passive crash prevention systems. Carmakers are, moreover, taking the time to design vehicles that can protect pedestrians in case of accidents.
  

It said the details of the test results will be posted on Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Internet page at www.ts2020.kr and the Korean new Cars Assessment Program's site of www.kncap.org. (Yonhap)