General Motors has been hit with recalls and bad reports in the media in 2014, but two GM SUVs are bringing some good news to the American carmaker.

A new crash test that seeks to see what happens when a vehicle's front corner collides with another vehicle or object at 40 miles per hour was conducted and two GM SUVs were the only two vehicles to achieve the top rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The Chevy Equinox and the GMC Terrain were the two mid-size SUVs to receive this top rating. This test is new to the size category for SUVs and is a much more challenging test than previous tests by the institute and the government.

The new test is crucial because 25 percent of serious car accidents occur when a vehicle hits another vehicle (or object) on the front corner and the damage causes the front corner of the vehicle to crunch towards the driver.

The two GM SUVs scored well in the test because the driver's cabin didn't completely collapse and the driving dummy's head was kept in place by the airbags.

Because of their excellent results on this test and other factors, the Equinox and the Terrain were awarded Top Safety Picks Plus by the institute.

While these American vehicles responded well to the "small overlap crash test," their Asian counterparts did not. Honda, Mazda and Kia received the worst ratings for this test.

Honda argues that the 2014 model of the Honda Pilot, which received a top safety pick last year, is the same. Mazda responded by saying their CX-9 vehicle was designed before this test was created.

You can view the video to see the vehicles' responses to these tests.