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DETROIT (Reuters) - Kia Motors Corp.'s Sedona minivan suffered more than $4,000 in damage during a low-speed bumper crash test because its air bags deployed, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said on Wednesday.

The Sedona racked up a total of $9,000 in damage in four such bumper tests, a performance the insurance industry-sponsored group rated "poor." Three other import cars -- the Subaru Impreza, the Mitsubishi Lancer, and the Volvo S40 -- suffered between $2,500 and $3,100 in damage, earning "marginal" grades.

The insurance institute said the Sedona's air bags went off when the minivan's front end was crashed into a flat barrier at five mph. Both driver and passenger side air bags deployed, and the passenger side air bag cracked the front windshield. The total cost of repair was $4,305. Kia is investigating why the air bags deployed at such a low speed, the institute said. Air bags normally go off only above speeds of 12 mph to 14 mph.

In another test, where vehicles are backed into a pole at five mph, the Sedona's tailgate and rear body panels had to be replaced, with total damage running $2,971.

"It was the worst performance of any minivan we've tested," Adrian Lund, the institute's chief operating officer, said in a statement. "The worst result was the air bag deployment in the flat-barrier test. This shouldn't happen."

The institute conducts the tests to highlight the high repair costs insurers must pay and to goad automakers into making stronger bumpers. The Sedona, the first minivan sold in the United States by Kia, had received top scores in federal crash tests.

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