GMC is a leader in the truck and SUV markets, and GMC has another great SUV to offer Americans. The GMC Yukon has been entirely redesigned for the 2021 model year, and it has a lot of new features. Here’s everything that’s known about the new Yukon’s safety capabilities.

No safety ratings yet

Because of how new the 2021 Yukon is, no safety agency has had the chance to test it out yet. However, due to the fact that GMC and Chevy are both owned by GM, there are many similar cars and trucks that the 2021 Yukon can be compared to. In the Yukon’s case, GM builds the Yukon very similarly to how Chevy builds the Tahoe. 

The new Tahoe is also like the Yukon in the sense that they’re both full-size SUVs. The new Tahoe is also being built off of the same platform that GM is using to build the newest Silverado 1500s. As a result, it’s possible to look at the crash test results for both the Tahoe and the Silverado to see just how the 2021 Yukon may perform in them. 

Additionally, while the 2021 Yukon hasn’t been tested by any agencies yet, its past model years have had some testing. Those results could also shed some light on how the 2021 Yukon may perform in its tests.

Possible safety ratings

While the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, hasn’t done any crash tests on any model years of the Yukon, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, has done some tests. The NHTSA gave the 2019 Yukon 4 out of 5 stars for its overall safety. This score was mostly due to how the Yukon performed in the front crash tests and the NHTSA’s rollover tests. 

In the side crash tests, the 2019 Yukon performed well. The NHTSA gave the 2019 Yukon 5 out of 5 stars for every part of the side crash test. However, in its front crash tests, the NHTSA only gave the 2019 Yukon 4 out of 5 stars for how it performed. Both the driver-side and the passenger-side received 4 out of 5 stars for safety in those front crash tests. 

The 2019 Yukon also didn’t do well in the rollover test. The NHTSA says that it has a nearly 22% chance of rolling over. As a result, the 2019 Yukon only got 3 out of 5 stars for the rollover test. Unsurprisingly, the NHTSA gave the Tahoe nearly identical scores in every safety category.

The IIHS did do some crash tests on the Silverado, though. Overall, the 2019 Silverado did well in most crash test categories. The IIHS gave it a “Good” grade, which is the highest grade possible, in almost every crash test category. The exception was in the passenger-side front crash test. The IIHS only gave the Silverado a “Marginal” grade there, which is the second worst grade possible. 

The 2021 Yukon’s potential safety rating

Given how similar GM SUVs and trucks performed in their crash tests, the 2021 Yukon may perform the same. However, since GM has redesigned the Yukon, it’s really impossible to know for sure until the IIHS and the NHTSA crash the new Yukon into a few walls. That said, GM is also upgrading the safety features that the 2021 Yukon will have.

GM says that the 2021 Yukon will now have automatic emergency braking as standard. On top of that, GM will be offering optional smart safety technologies such as a surround vision camera system as well as a rear pedestrian alert system. These features should allow the 2021 Yukon to score well in safety tests, though it probably won’t get the best safety grades possible.