Volkswagen GTI earns Top Safety Pick award

The GTI is VW's first model to earn an IIHS safety award for 2019.

Volkswagen's 2019 GTI has earned a Top Safety Pick rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The hatchback received 'good' marks in all crash tests, except for an 'acceptable' rating in the passenger-side small-overlap impact. The optional front-crash prevention system was deemed 'superior.'

The IIHS found the GTI's base halogen headlights to be 'poor,' while the LED lights on the SE, Rabbit Edition and Autobahn trims received a higher 'acceptable' rating.

"Other members of Volkswagen's Golf family -- the Golf hatchback, Golf Alltrack and Golf SportWagen -- all fall short of earning 2019 safety awards due to lackluster headlight performance," the IIHS report notes.

The GTI is the first Volkswagen model to receive a 2019 safety award.