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Hyundai Palisade, IONIQ 5, and Kona Awarded With Trio of Kelley Blue Book 2026 Best Buy Awards

News Provided by PR Newswire2026-01-23

Hyundai Palisade, IONIQ 5, and Kona Awarded With Trio of Kelley Blue Book 2026 Best Buy Awards

[23-January-2026]

Palisade earns Kelley Blue Book's 2026 Best Midsize SUV Award for its premium design, available hybrid powertrain, refined interior, and resale value
IONIQ 5 continues its reign as the 2026 Best Electric Vehicle, winning the title for the fourth year in a row
Kona wins 2026 Best Subcompact SUV for the third-consecutive year

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Jan. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hyundai Palisade, IONIQ 5, and Kona have been recognized with class wins in Kelley Blue Book's prestigious 2026 Best Buy Awards, reflecting the brand's continued momentum in technology, design, safety, driving experience, and quality.

Hyundai – 2026 Kelley Blue Book Best Buy Award Winners

Model	Award Category
Hyundai Kona	Best Subcompact SUV
Hyundai Palisade	Best Midsize SUV
Hyundai IONIQ 5	Best Electric Vehicle

Now in their twelfth year, Kelley Blue Book's Best Buy Awards are widely regarded as a trusted benchmark of new vehicle excellence. The program honors models that rise to the top of their segments through a full year of expert evaluation, including comprehensive vehicle testing, pricing trends, consumer sentiment, five-year cost‑to‑own data, and real-world usability. The 2026 awards reflect Kelley Blue Book's testing of nearly every new and redesigned vehicle sold in the U.S., making each recognition especially meaningful in recognizing Hyundai's continued leadership in technology, safety, performance, design, and attainability.

"For our 12th annual Best Buy Awards, some obvious patterns have emerged. With three different vehicles in very challenging categories, Hyundai has proven they know how to build compelling vehicles that really appeal to new car shoppers," said Brian Moody, executive editor for Kelley Blue Book. "The new Palisade is the perfect example, with available hybrid power and a luxurious interior, it's an ideal family SUV. The Hyundai Kona combines a stylish look and usefulness for a very reasonable price. Finally, the home run of electric cars, the IONIQ 5, is one of those cars you see everywhere but is anything but ordinary. The hatchback look and thoughtful design elements make it an excellent choice for those who want both value and fun."

"We are proud that these three Hyundai models continue to resonate with Kelley Blue Book's editors for their engineering integrity, advanced safety technologies, distinctive design, and refined ownership experience," said Olabisi Boyle, senior vice president, product planning and mobility strategy, Hyundai Motor North America. "IONIQ 5 extending its reign as Best Electric Vehicle, Palisade being honored for its premium design and available hybrid powertrain, and Kona winning its category for the third-consecutive year all speak to our team's commitment to delivering vehicles that reflect our customers' priorities. These recognitions reinforce that our models continue to surprise and delight consumers and expert reviewers alike on the strength of their innovation, style, and thoughtful engineering."

For the fourth-consecutive year, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 captured Kelley Blue Book's Best Electric Vehicle Award, furthering its segment leadership thanks to its forward-thinking design, compelling performance, fast charging, and everyday usability. Available with the buyer's choice of rear-wheel or all-wheel drive, IONIQ 5's real-world capabilities are complemented by ultra-fast DC charging, reassuring driving range, and a technologically rich cabin experience.

The Hyundai Palisade earned Kelley Blue Book's Best Midsize SUV Award thanks to its thoughtful blend of refined design, space, and class-above furnishings. The new Palisade offers a reimagined third row with improved passenger comfort and generous visibility, premium appointments across all trim levels, and an available next-generation hybrid powertrain with increased power, range, and efficiency. Palisade's family-centric engineering and advanced safety features help it rise above consumer expectations, while its versatility makes it equally at home on daily commutes or long-distance travel.

The 2026 Hyundai Kona earned Kelley Blue Book's Best Subcompact SUV recognition for its bold design, intuitive technology, and well-rounded driving performance. Its available turbocharged powertrain, modern, open‑cabin layout and thoughtful interior packaging deliver a confident, comfortable driving experience that stands out in the segment. With an impressive list of standard advanced safety features, versatile cargo space, and the reassurance of America's Best Warranty, the 2026 Kona delivers exceptional everyday usability and driving fun, qualities that set it apart in the subcompact class.

About Kelley Blue Book
Founded in 1926, Kelley Blue Book, The Trusted Resource®, is the vehicle valuation and information source trusted and relied upon by both consumers and the automotive industry for nearly a century. As the industry standard for generations, Kelley Blue Book provides transparent, objective information and data-driven, innovative tools for consumers, automotive dealers and manufacturers. Kelley Blue Book publishes millions of market-reflective values weekly on its top-rated website KBB.com, from its famous Blue Book® Trade-In Values to the Kelley Blue Book® Price Advisor tool, which offers a range for what consumers reasonably can expect to pay for a vehicle in their area. KBB.com editors rate and review hundreds of new vehicles each year to help consumers understand the Best Cars and Best SUVs to meet their needs. Kelley Blue Book™ Instant Cash Offer provides a redeemable trade-in offer to transaction-ready consumers and conveniently connects them to local participating dealers. Kelley Blue Book's Service Advisor provides guidance on how much to pay for service and repairs, allowing consumers to schedule service with local dealers on KBB.com. Kelley Blue Book also provides vehicle values to finance and insurance companies as well as governmental agencies. Kelley Blue Book is a Cox Automotive brand.

About Cox Automotive
Cox Automotive is the world's largest automotive services and technology provider. Fueled by the largest breadth of first-party data fed by 2.3 billion online interactions a year, Cox Automotive tailors leading solutions for car shoppers, auto manufacturers, dealers, lenders and fleets. The company has 29,000+ employees on five continents and a portfolio of industry-leading brands that include Autotrader®, Kelley Blue Book®, Manheim®, vAuto®, Dealertrack®, NextGear Capital™, CentralDispatch® and Cox Fleet®. Cox Automotive is a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc., a privately owned, Atlanta-based company with $23 billion in annual revenue. Visit coxautoinc.com or connect via @CoxAutomotive on X, CoxAutoInc on Facebook or Cox-Automotive-Inc on LinkedIn.

Hyundai Motor America
Hyundai Motor America offers U.S. consumers a technology-rich lineup of cars, SUVs, and electrified vehicles, while supporting Hyundai Motor Company's Progress for Humanity vision. Hyundai has significant operations in the U.S., including its North American headquarters in California, the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama assembly plant, the all-new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, several cutting-edge R&D facilities and more than 855 independent dealers. These operations are part of Hyundai Motor Group, which is investing $26 billion in the U.S. from 2025 to 2028. For more information, visit www.hyundainews.com.