DETROIT — “The future: it’s a topic that always fascinates people,” KIA Chief Operating Officer Michael Sprague said Monday afternoon, as KIA presents the world debut of the Telluride at the 2016 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). It is an exciting time for a company to never stop thinking about the future, Sprague continued. Last year, KIA has sold six million vehicles for the first time since 1994. With Forte and Forte 5, KIA is known for being stylish, sporty, and practical.
“We’re not interested in predicting the future,” KIA Chief Designer Tom Kearns states. “We want it to create it.” To illustrate, the Telluride isn’t science fiction and/or fantasy like director Ridley Scott’s 1982 cult classic Blade Runner with Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer, or director James Cameron’s 1986 blockbuster Aliens with Sigourney Weaver in her Oscar-nominated role as Ellen Ripley, who brought a major firepower of girl power in making sure those slimy creatures are the ones screaming from outer space.
It features a 3.5-liter gasoline direct injected (GDI) V6 engine and powerful electric motor producing 400 horsepower (270 horsepower from V6 and 130 horsepower from the electric motor) while achieving more than 30 mpg on the highway.
The Telluride, Kearns goes on, has a lot of attitude because it can take people from urban neighborhoods to ski resorts. It is named to establish the harmony between man, machine, and nature. “It is a near future look into what vehicles and occupants can become,” Kearns comments. The Telluride is now part of KIA’s history in bring concept cars to life and into reality.
Click here for more information about the KIA Telluride Concept.
