Kia America recently started production on the incoming 2027 Telluride hybrid SUV, the automaker’s flagship midsize vehicle.
Kia produces every Telluride at its West Point, Georgia, facility. In total, the 2,200-acre plant has manufactured five million Kia vehicles since it opened in 2009.
The 2027 edition is 2.3 inches longer than the original 2019 Telluride, with a nearly 3-inch longer wheelbase and a 1-inch increase in height. There is a 38-horsepower increase over the previous model and 77 lb.-ft. more torque.
The second-generation Telluride, which began production Feb. 24, starts at $46,490 with six trim levels. It’s now available to purchase.
It will also be available as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), marking the first time Kia will assemble an HEV at the Georgia facility. The hybrid will arrive in showrooms this month.
“Brimming with Kia’s latest tech, available in seven-passenger configuration, and an EPA-estimated 35 mpg combined on the EX FWD trim, the 2027 Telluride HEV is the new benchmark in the three-row SUV segment,” VP of Sales Eric Watson said in a statement.
Kia expects the Telluride with its new hybrid powertrain to be a boost for the brand.
In February, the Telluride was Kia’s second top-selling model behind the Sportage; 13,198 were sold, up 37% from 9,599 a year ago.
Kia Designers
Designers at the Kia Design Center America in Irvine were tasked with crafting the upcoming Telluride four years ago during an internal competition among the automaker’s three global centers.
“With the launch of the second-generation Telluride, our design and product planning team had an incredible challenge: Develop an all-new SUV that was its own, unique product, while encapsulating many of the elements that made the original Telluride a historic success,” Chief Executive SeungKyu “Sean” Yoon said when the new hybrid was revealed last year.
The Irvine studio’s Chief Designer, Kurt Kahl, told the Business Journal that customers need a car’s aesthetics and functionality to “live together” in a new design. And when creating a second-generation model, he said it becomes about meeting consumers’ needs in new ways.
“We really try to balance both — something that’s beautiful to look at, very refined and high quality, but also something that’s going to make their lives easier, whether they’re on their morning commute or on road trips,” Kahl said.
Kahl has previously worked on the teams that designed the original Telluride and Kia’s first electric vehicle, the EV9. He joined the automaker in 2005 after working for Hyundai and Ford and moved to the Irvine base after it opened in 2008.
Kia held a media event at the Irvine design studio for the first time last October for an early preview of the Telluride with Yoon, Kahl and Senior Chief Designer Tom Kearns in attendance.
Kearns noted at the event that even though the Telluride was about to be released, he was already working on his next project – a vehicle for 2030.
“It does take a certain amount of time to engineer and develop a vehicle and test it, and go through all these stages of feasibility,” Kahl added. “We have to anticipate what could be coming, or what will be needed in the future.”
