Kia U.S. Exec: Rear-Drive Sports Sedan and Telluride SUV Look Increasingly Likely

At the Chicago auto show, Kia was one of the few brands making big news, showing its 2016 Optima hybrid and plug-in hybrid, as well as its all-new Prius-fighter, the Niro hybrid. We sat down with Kia Motors America COO, Michael Sprague, to see what else Kia may be cookin’ up for next year and beyond.

The most compelling subject of our conversation concerned the recent revelations by company insiders in Korea that Kia is planning to launch a small, rear-wheel-drive sports sedan that would represent a budget alternative to the ubiquitous BMW 3-series. Presumably, that vehicle would look something like the Novo concept (seen at top), a car that, come to think of it, looks an awful lot like a 3-series.

Sprague claims that he was as surprised—and delighted—as the rest of us to learn of this. “Last week somebody in Korea said that, yes, there’s a rear-wheel-drive vehicle coming next year . . . someone close to the situation,” said Sprague. “We read the same article you did. We were like, ‘All right! Cool!’

“It would be great for the brand,” Sprague continued. “The Soul has really been a halo for the brand in terms of that fun, funky coolness. The K900 has pushed us into the luxury space and serves as a halo in that space. It would be great to have a sport sedan to really connect with the enthusiasts.”

Kia does have a pretty good track record of producing its well-received concept cars. “If you look at the history of the brand, we use auto shows to introduce concept vehicles. We introduced a Soul concept and it came to market. We introduced the Niro concept and it came to market in a fashion very close to this. Our history is to introduce these concepts, gauge consumer and media feedback, and if it’s strong, let’s bring it to market. A couple years ago, we showed a rear-wheel-drive sports concept [the GT4 Stinger]. You may be able to link these two together.”

We also asked Mr. Sprague about the production prospects for the full-size Telluride SUV concept, which was unveiled at Detroit last month. While the three-row SUV is a little further out, it looks just as likely to appear, even without rumors from across the Pacific fueling the fire, and Sprague would like to have the big, Borrego-sized ute in the lineup yesterday.

“I think it compliments where the brand is at today. The Borrego, by all accounts, was a great vehicle from a functionality standpoint and what it delivered from packaging and design; it was just launched at the absolute worst possible time. People were fleeing the [full-size SUV] market; gasoline was four or five bucks a gallon, and nobody wanted them . . . which is unfortunate because it’s still sold in other parts of the world.

“But the market has changed; gas prices are a buck/buck-fifty, people are looking for more space, for that ride height that they missed when they shifted back to sedans, and our customers that we’ve been attracting for the last few years are asking for it. They took a chance on the brand . . . customers are now saying ‘I love the experience I’ve had with the brand; I love my car; I bought a Sportage and I needed more space; I bought a Sorento, I needed something bigger; I’m at the point now where I need something even bigger. My kids are bigger; I have more stuff; I want to tow something; I want to go someplace. It’s just a natural progression of where the brand has evolved to.”

But will it actually be produced? Sprague repeated what he said about the rear-drive sedan: “If we go back and look at our history of introducing concept vehicles and how they come to market, it looks pretty good. And if you look at the growth in those segments there’s still a lot left to go.”

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Kia Preparing Further U.S. Expansion with Luxury SUV Concept

South Korean automaker Kia Motors is preparing the next phase of its U.S. expansion with the recent unveiling of a luxury SUV concept and the upcoming launch of its first assembly plant in Mexico, a company executive told EFE on Saturday.

The Telluride, a premium large SUV concept with three rows of seating and a special focus on comfort, was Kia’s main vehicle introduction at the North American International Auto Show, a major industry event held in January in Detroit.

Although the Telluride is merely conceptual and under normal industry time frames would not become a reality for around four or five years, it serves as an excellent indicator of where the South Korean brand – a compelling success story in recent years – is heading.

The concept is based on the Sorento platform, the largest Kia SUV currently in U.S. showrooms and one of the South Korean automaker’s most successful models.

Kia sold a total of 116,249 Sorento vehicles last year in the United States, 12.5 percent more than in 2014. That model was the automaker’s third-biggest seller in the U.S. market, trailing only its Optima sedan and the Soul.

Kia, which unveiled its fourth-generation Sorento in January 2015, had detected a clear market trend.

“The previous generation of the Sorento was really the biggest success story in our history,” Orth Hedrick, vice president of product planning at Kia Motors America, told EFE on Saturday.

“During the launch of that vehicle, we discovered that the Sorento was attracting a very large number of more affluent families and individuals. And it was clear that the interior needed to be more luxurious and refined, with more features,” he added.

“Now, the better-equipped Sorento, with a V6 engine and a third row of seats, is having extraordinary results. In some U.S. markets, it represents between 40 and 60 percent of our sales, which means we’re attracting wealthier buyers,” Hedrick said.

The Telluride is based on Sorento’s platform, although it is bigger and more powerful, combining a 3.5-liter, 270-horsepower V6 engine with an electric powertrain that produces an additional 130 horsepower.

“All of that is packaged in a very masculine exterior that expresses confidence and daring. The Telluride is the natural evolution for accommodating our customer base, whose purchasing power is rising, and responding to the new tastes of drivers who prefer SUVs to large sedans,” Hedrick said.

But even as it looks to the future with the Telluride, Kia also is prepared to meet the growing U.S. demand for smaller automobiles.

Kia unveiled at the NAIAS in Detroit the latest versions of its four-door Forte compact sedan and five-door Forte5 hatchback, 78,919 units of which were sold last year in the United States.

Until now, Kia had placed limited emphasis on the Forte because it was only manufactured at one South Korean plant, which met demand for the model worldwide.

“We couldn’t bring more units to the United States!” Hedrick recalled.

But that situation will change radically in the coming months, when Kia’s first assembly plant in Mexico starts operating in the northern industrial city of Monterrey in May or June.

That facility will assemble the new Forte 2017 models for the U.S. market, allowing Kia to increase its focus on a model and segment that is especially important for automakers.

Although the compact sedan segment is very competitive and profit margins are relatively narrow, it serves as a point of entry into the auto market for many drivers, particularly young people – buyers who in the future will be looking for bigger and more expensive vehicles.

Along those lines, Hedrick said Kia had been able to build customer loyalty in North America on the basis of the “quality, design and value” of its vehicles.

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Consumer Reports Picks Genesis, Kia Among Top 9

Anchor: As South Korean automakers are trying to promote their higher-end models at overseas markets, U.S. Consumer Reports magazine has paid particular attention to Hyundai Motor's luxury brand Genesis and Kia Motors' concept car. While picking two South Korean cars as top nine models, the magazine called the Hyundai Genesis G90 "Most Ambitious."
Our Kim Soyon tells us more.

Report: A luxury brand Genesis sedan by Hyundai Motor and a concept car by Kia Motors have made the list of nine best cars of the 2016 Detroit Auto Show.

According to industry sources Saturday, U.S. Consumer Reports magazine named Hyundai's Genesis G90 as the "Most Ambitious" among the top nine.

The magazine noted that Hyundai is no longer content to sell its Genesis and Equus sedans under the Hyundai flag and created Genesis as a standalone luxury division with its own identity. The report said it came away impressed with the first offering sampled, the G90.

The G90, sold in South Korea as the EQ900, is the highest-end premium sedan of the Genesis brand.

Meanwhile, Kia's Telluride has been chosen as the "Most Probable Concept."

The report said this "three-row SUV looks like it’s ready to go on sale tomorrow with just a few tweaks." It said its "exterior dimensions suggest a premium entry that can be an alternative to a GMC Yukon, Infiniti QX80 or Volvo XC90."

The other seven cars that made it on the list include the Buick Avista Concept, Chevrolet Bolt, Chrysler Pacifica, Honda Ridgeline, Acura Precision Concept, Lexus LC 500 and the Nissan Titan Warrior.

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Catch a Glimpse of Kia’s Telluride Concept in the Wild

The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) was the site of many amazing debuts from car brands around the world. One of the most impressive debuts, though, was that of the Kia Telluride Concept. Designed to showcase Kia’s future design style, the Telluride is an SUV that offers consumers a sleek, modern silhouette with plenty of innovative technologies in the cabin.

But the Telluride isn’t just a hint at Kia’s design future—it also hints at a possible SUV being added to the brand’s American lineup in the future. We haven’t gotten any word on whether or not production is a go for the concept car, but we can only hope it happens sometime soon.

As a plug-in hybrid concept car, the Telluride combines a 3.5-liter V6 gasoline-powered engine with an electric motor, churning out a surprising 400 horsepower. Despite this power, the SUV gets an impressive 30 mpg highway, something that is typically unheard of for such a large vehicle.

To show us how great the Kia Telluride concept truly is, Kia has given us a glimpse of the SUV out on the open road—and we have to say, we’re quite impressed. Even the wheels look awesome! Watch the Telluride’s video debut below (the driving starts at the 0:57 mark).

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Kia Telluride concept measures occupants' health vitals, uses light therapy

The Kia Telluride full-size SUV concept was unveiled at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show January 11, a “purely conceptual [vehicle] based on an existing platform” that strongly hints at a possible premium SUV for the brand.

The company is calling the Telluride a styling exercise that lets them explore the idea of a luxury seven-passenger SUV. Its interior features a folding third-row bench seat and four black leather captain’s seats, the second row of which fold nearly flat and include fold-away footrests.

The four seats also include “Smart Sensors” that can take and then measure occupants vital health information. The Telluride uses these sensors, along with a Light Emitted Rejuvenation (LER) system, to project therapeutic light patterns across the roof of the vehicle to treat jet lag and improve passenger energy levels.

The second row also features Swipe Command, a thin, touchscreen-like band mounted to the center console that lets back seat occupants control the infotainment system. The interior is completed with several 3D-printed components.

The styling of the Telluride, born of the company’s California studio, is designed to be bold but very much of modern SUV design language; it rides on a strecthed Sorento chassis, and is about 9.5 inches longer than its smaller sibling. Power comes from a hybrid drivetrain made up of a 3.5-litre GDI V6 engine and an electric motor together putting 400 horsepower to all four wheels. Kia estimates it’d return about 30 mpg highway. While the company has said the Telluride will not make it to production, it has hinted very strongly that a similar vehicle will almost definitely come to market at some point soon.

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Kia Telluride concept SUV revealed

Kia has revealed the Telluride concept SUV it has been teasing over the past few days at the Detroit motor show.

The new model provides a glimpse into the future of Kia’s design and technology, suggesting the carmaker is eager to enter the large SUV market that’s still so popular in North America. As such, the SUV is as large as it looks in pictures, standing 1800mm tall, 2029 mm wide and 5001mm long.

It sits on 22-inch five-spoke wheels and flaunts a muscular profile that has been designed by Kia’s Design Centre America. Focus has been placed on making the Telluride as practical as possible, so the rear doors swing open a full 90 degrees in opposing directions, and there are three rows of seats inside.

The middle seats can fold down almost flat, suggesting the SUV has been designed with long distance driving in mind, and there’s a new touch-sensitive infotainment system with wireless charging - which previews what’s to come in forthcoming Kias.

Power comes from a direct injection 3.5-litre V6 that produces 270bhp, mated to a 130bhp eletric motor. The hybrid drivetrain sends power to all four wheels, and is claimed to be good for 30mpg US (about 36 European mpg).

Kia says there are no plans to put the Telluride into production, but given how complete the concept looks, it appears that Kia is experimenting with the idea of building a similarly sized vehicle for the US market.

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