The Kia Telluride is a

mid-size crossover SUV Mid-size crossover SUV is an automobile classification used mainly in North America to describe a segment of crossover SUV, a type of sport utility vehicle, between compact crossover SUV and full-size crossover SUV. A mid-size crossover SUV ...

with three-row seating manufactured and marketed by

Kia Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second lar ...

since 2019. Positioned above the smaller Sorento, the Telluride was previewed as a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

in 2016, with the production model debuting in the spring of 2019 as a 2020 model. It shares components and specifications with its sister model, the

Hyundai Palisade The Hyundai Palisade ( ko, 현대 팰리세이드) is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by Hyundai Motor Company since late 2018. It replaces the Maxcruz (also known as Hyundai Santa Fe, Santa Fe XL outside of South Korea) as the flagship SU ...

, including its engine, transmission, and wheelbase. Named after the town of

Telluride, Colorado Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The first ...

, the Telluride is the largest vehicle Kia has manufactured in the United States. In 2020, the Telluride was named the 2020

World Car of the Year The World Car Awards (formerly World Car of the Year, WCOTY) is a group of automobile ''Car of the Year'' awards selected by a jury of 82 international automotive journalists from 24 countries. Cars considered must be sold in at least five countr ...

as well as ''

Motor Trend ''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949. Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 19 ...

'''s SUV of the year.

Overview

The production version of the Telluride was launched at the 2019

North American International Auto Show The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. ...

in January. Previously, the Telluride was displayed as a customized version inspired by fashion designer

Brandon Maxwell Brandon Maxwell (born September 18, 1984) is an American fashion designer, television personality, director, and photographer. He is the founder and creative director of Brandon Maxwell, the luxury women’s ready-to-wear label. Early life a ...

's Texas-inspired collection, at

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

in September 2018. The overall design is similar to the 2016 concept except for the front end which was completely redesigned. The Telluride is the first Kia designed specifically for the US market, with the design work handled at the Kia Design Center in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on ...

. The production version Telluride is powered by a 3.8-liter ''Lambda II'' V6

Atkinson cycle The Atkinson-cycle engine is a type of internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. The Atkinson cycle is designed to provide efficiency at the expense of power density. A variation of this approach is used in some modern aut ...

gasoline engine rated at and , paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and either

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longit ...

all-wheel-drive An all-wheel drive vehicle (AWD vehicle) is one with a powertrain capable of providing power to all its wheels, whether full-time or on-demand. The most common forms of all-wheel drive are: ;1x1 : All unicycles Reflecting one axle with one w ...

. The Telluride features four drive modes – Smart, Eco, Sport and Comfort. Snow and AWD Lock modes are also available for specific driving conditions, and the on-demand electro-hydraulic AWD system with multi-plate clutch plate constantly redistributes power to both

axles An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotation, rotating wheel and axle, wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In ...

. In Eco and Smart modes, power is completely routed to the front wheels, whereas Sport mode splits the power down to 65 percent front, 35 percent rear. The standard towing rate for this SUV is rated at , and it also features the optional self-levelling rear suspension where the ride height is automatically calibrated depending on vehicle load to optimise control and stability. The Telluride is not marketed in South Korea as it is only produced in the United States, whereas its Hyundai counterpart, the Korean-built Palisade is marketed there instead. Exports from the

West Point, Georgia West Point is a city in Troup County, Georgia, Troup and Harris County, Georgia, Harris counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is located approximately halfway between Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta ...

plant to the Middle East started in February 2019. Kia limited exports of the Telluride to around 3,000 units annually.

Trim levels

In U.S. and Canada, the Telluride is offered in four trim levels: LX, S, EX, and SX. The latter is offered with an optional "SX Prestige Package," which include several premium features. Since 2021, Kia has offered a "Premium Package" on the EX trim. A 3-seat bench is standard for the second row while captain's chairs can be added, dropping the seating capacity from eight to seven. All Tellurides are equipped with various features that are otherwise optional in some of its competitors, such as "Sofino" (

leatherette Artificial leather, also called synthetic leather, is a material intended to substitute for leather in upholstery, clothing, footwear, and other uses where a leather-like finish is desired but the actual material is cost prohibitive or unsuitab ...

)-trimmed or leather-trimmed seating surfaces. Available equipment includes a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system, rear view monitor, 630-watt 10-speaker

Harman Kardon Harman Kardon (stylized as ) is a division of US-based Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, and manufactures home and car audio equipment. Harman Kardon was originally founded in 1953 by business partners, Sid ...

audio system, wireless smartphone charging tray, and head-up display with turn-by-turn navigation, along with heated and ventilated first and second row bucket seats. The Telluride is also equipped with Driver Talk for some trim levels, an in-car

intercom An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building or small collection of buildings which functions independently of the public telephon ...

system that allows the driver to communicate separately with passengers in the second or third row.

2023 refresh

The refreshed 2023 Telluride was unveiled at the

New York International Auto Show The New York International Auto Show is an annual auto show that is held in Manhattan in late March or early April. It is held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It usually opens on or just before Easter weekend and closes on the first Su ...

on April 13, 2022. New convenience technology such as a 12.3-inch instrument panel and an available smart power liftgate with auto-close functionality were added. On the exterior, the grille, headlights, and front bumper were redesigned. More rugged-looking X-Line and X-Pro trims became available since the 2023 model year.

Concept version

The concept version was first introduced at the 2016 North American International Auto Show. A

mid-size Mid-size—also known as intermediate—is a vehicle size class which originated in the United States and is used for cars larger than compact cars and smaller than full-size cars. "Large family car" is a UK term and a part of the D-segment in t ...

, three-row, seven-passenger

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...

, the Telluride concept is based on a modified Sorento chassis, and powered by a transversely-mounted 3.5-liter gasoline direct injected V6 producing combined with an electric motor producing , for an overall output of . Fuel consumption is claimed to be . The exterior was finished in ''dark pyrite'' paint and featured a squared off body riding on 22-inch rims, as well as an enlarged tiger nose grille and multiple LED headlamps, consistent with Kia's current design language (as of 2016). The car's

suicide door A suicide door is an automobile door hinged at its rear rather than the front. Such doors were originally used on horse-drawn carriages, but are rarely found on modern vehicles, primarily because they are perceived as being less safe than a fron ...

s swung open 90 degrees in opposite directions, revealing a pillarless design. Some of the interior components were

3D printed 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

, marking Kia's first usage of 3D printing technology. It was designed by Tom Kearns from Kia Design Center America.

Sales

References

External links

* {{Kia North America Telluride Telluride Cars introduced in 2019 Mid-size sport utility vehicles Crossover sport utility vehicles