Three-row crossovers aren’t typically thought of as enthusiast vehicles, but as someone who was there when the Kia Telluride dropped in 2019? Oh boy, that thing tapped into car passions that people didn’t even know they had. It was a mainstream crossover that elicited desire, a critically acclaimed hit. Now it’s time for that tricky sophomore album, so say hello to the new 2027 Kia Telluride.
The Telluride wasn’t Kia’s first shot at a North American flagship – remember the Amanti, or the Cadenza, or the K900, or even the image-maker Stinger GT? However, the Telluride was the first one that really stuck. With devilishly handsome styling, the right sort of gadgets, and decent material spend, Kia made a three-row crossover that transcended class. It looked equally at home whether parked outside a YMCA or an actual mansion, and the result was a sales sensation. People were willing to pay more than sticker price for loaded examples, and more than half a million have been sold in America since the model launched. Plus, the Telluride’s best-selling year was last year. It’s been on sale since 2019, yet it keeps breaking sales record after sales record.
It’s safe to say that Kia simply had to get the second-generation Telluride right. Remember the outrage when the 2023 model got rid of the amber daytime running lights? We’re talking about a machine that brought a whole new set of clientele to Kia, so the brand’s designers and engineers had to try their absolute hardest with this thing.
Right out of the gate, there’s a whole lot of faux grille on the new Telluride, but I’m starting to warm to this bezel-free look. You don’t often see clean shut lines between hoods and grilles these days, and there’s far less blackout trim on this SXP model than on the soft-roady X-Pro trim. The much-loved amber daytime running lights make a reappearance on the second-generation Telluride, now leaning into a waterfall look. It’s quite a blunt front end, but with boxy being in, it’s probably just what buyers are looking for.
Around the side, the new Telluride mostly just takes what worked about the old one and amplifies it. There’s a general minimalism to the profile, square and confident, without a ton of unnecessary creases. There are two things here I’m not so sure about, however: The rectangular elements atop each wheel arch are bizarre, and the flush-mount retracting door handles aren’t the most user-friendly choice for those with kids.
However, I’m calling the rear of the new Kia Telluride an absolute success. Not only do those vertical taillights recall the headlights, there’s something Range Rover-ish about the whole treatment back here. It just looks expensive, and part of the appeal of the old Telluride was that it looked far pricier than it actually was.
Moving inside the new Telluride, one word comes to mind: Rich. Huge swaths of textiles, satin wood, metallic accents, and even a Bentley-like two-tone steering wheel all combine to make a cabin that looks expensive. While the basic layout is familiar to anyone who’s been inside an EV9, the overall execution is just neater in the Telluride. Also, some of the touches on display in the press photos are intriguing to say the least. Firstly, a glimpse at the driver’s door panel reveals what appears to be a button for massaging front seats. On the other side, there’s a strange QR code on the bezel for the front passenger seat heating and cooling controls. Scanning it takes you to a webpage about sustainable materials. Interesting.
While we don’t yet know what powers the new Kia Telluride, it isn’t difficult to take an educated guess. The three-row Hyundai Palisade platform-mate offers a 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 or a turbocharged hybrid four-cylinder powertrain, so something along those lines is likely in the cards.
Given that the 2027 Kia Telluride will be unveiled in full at the Los Angeles Auto Show later this month, we won’t have to wait long to learn a whole lot more about the brand’s range-topping combustion-powered crossover. With looks this elegant and an interior this premium, expect to see a whole lot of new Tellurides on the roads near you when it makes its way to showrooms early next year.
Top graphic image: Kia
My sister-in-law bought a palisade back in 2020, even though I told her not to. She’s had nothing but problems with it the entire time she’s had it. The warranty expired on it a few weeks ago and the AC went out. No help or good faith from hyundai whatsoever. So she decided to trade it in. They were literally going to give her about 12k for it on trade in. She went down the street to the lexus dealership, which is where I told her to go in the first place.They gave her 22k trade in on a new lexus tx. Hyundai, Kia, and their dealerships all suck.
The top and second images clearly show a 7-slot grille: will FCA (Jeep) sue? Will David buy one out of reflex despite the badge?
“There’s something Range Rover-ish about the whole treatment…” Yes, it’s called a blatant copy, something that’s been Hyundai/Kia’s ballywick for decades. I’m frankly a little disappointed, as they have the ability to do their own thing and keep squandering it. It’s a fine look, and, yeah, it sells, but the specific shaping of the rear, the skinny taillights, the flush door handles, and a floating roof all scream L460 Range Rover. Heck, turn the headlights 90° (from head-on) towards the center and swap sides, and they’d even look like the current and previous RR headlamps, but with amber instead of white lights.
Speaking of amber: Are those amber turn signals (single vertical strip) inboard of the brake/running lamps? Sure hope so! Red rear turn signals should be illegal.
While I appreciate a clean look, the gen-1 car had a distinct DLO/window shape with the “tiger nose” treatment. At least they got rid of the weird floating indent on the front doors.
I wonder if the weird tabular protrusion at the top of the wheel arches was practical, so to give such a large panel another attachment point?
Remember when bumpers used to be for, well, bumping, with the intent that the bodywork was preserved? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
That ground clearance photo has got to be photoshopped. Also, no visible exhaust?
Hidden exhaust tips are in vogue now, and/or the actual exhaust tip is hidden and manufacturers will add pieces of shiny decor on the bottom of the rear bumper to emulate exhaust tips, but they’re non-functional.
Thank the carbon staining from GDI engines for this new “fashion”.
Talk about no rear bumper, any hit to the back is gonna screw up the hatch.
I know nobody likes them but they do serve a purpose.
I think it’s better than the new Santa Fe, but that’s not saying much if anything.
I think it looks more similar to the new Palisade than the originals did to one another. Maybe that’s just X-Pro vs. XRT. Inside too, although I give the Telluride an edge there.
Really like the look for the new one. Would prefer functional grille areas be 100%, but that ship sailed long ago.
Fully lost me though at the retractable door handles. Those things are a Hades Specialty. Another motorized component nobody asked for that has the capacity to prevent entrance/exit/finger retention if they malfunction. I have second hand experience with the Benz version and … nope. Dead battery means can’t enter car. Really hope the trend is limited to time and specific manufacturer, like capacitive buttons and sliders.
Take away the motorized door handles and it rises near the top of the list of our next family hauler.
I feel that this look is a postmodern skyscraper answer to the ’70s Collonade. Looks like money, sure, but dark, gray, depressing, monolithic money. It would look right at home in downtown Chicago or NYC. Then again, I guess people nowadays are so defined by the corporate grind that they want every aspect of their lives to resemble it.
This looks like a concept from some Chinese automaker from 15 years ago. Its fucking hideous looking.
Of all the current 3 row crossovers, I like the looks of the current Telluride the most. It’s just a clean, cohesive design that looks great while maintaining practicality. The competitors are overstyled and/or make design choices that limit passenger volume, cargo space, or visibility in the name of questionable aesthetics (looking at you, Highlander).
This overdoes it a bit in my opinion, but it looks good enough that it will sell like crazy. And even if it’s not quite my taste, I applaud how much Kia and Hyundai are pushing design rather than just following along with trends.
One reason why I recently bought a used ’13 Highlander. It is what it is, and unapologetically so. As a Limited has all the toys I want and no more.
I’ve thought about grabbing a ’13 Highlander, as I like the looks of those ones ok and they seem to be packaged better than the current or previous gen. But I’m nominally looking for something that’s a bit of an upgrade and will long outlive my 2013 Mazda5, so it seems like the play is something less than 12 years old.
Then again, maybe I should just grab a low-mileage example since it seems the further we get from 2013 the more my wants and the market’s demands seem to diverge.
I traded in an ’05 Acura MDX. The Highlander is a upgrade in damn near every metric that matters. Better fuel economy (on regular), more comfortable seating. More efficient cargo area and rear seat packaging. It drives “smaller” than the Acura did as well. At least as ‘lux’ in Limited trim as the MDX.
It is a step up in size from a Mazda5, a friend has a competitive ’14 RAV4. TBH, the AWD V6 Highlander gets not much worse mileage real-world than his FWD I4 RAV4. I’ll take the extra comfort and space for 1 mpg.
My biggest disappointment with the Mazda5 is that it doesn’t offer much of a gas mileage benefit for the reduced size and power compared to the full-size minivans and 3-row crossovers. I still prefer it because I don’t want a bigger car (especially not the 200″ plus long “mini”vans), but it would be nice if it came with a fuel economy benefit.
This — he gets 25 or so mpg in a FWD 4 cyl Rav4. I see close to that in a 6cyl Highlander. The daughter saw 32 or so in her Vibe until it was totalled. These are the vehicles that need to be Hybrid only.
Damn, I saw 25 mpg regularly in my old ’96 4.6V8 Ford Thunderbird. My ’94 SHO got 30 regularly.
Final-year CX-9s were a screaming bargain when Mazda was making room for the CX-90.
I’ve heavily considered the most recent CX-9 (and daydreamed of the straight 6 CX-90). It jumps up and down my list of potential next cars depending on how wary I feel about long-term turbo reliability in this class.
How long do you want to keep it and how much do you drive? A low stress NA V6 engine will outlive a higher strung turbo I4 in the long term (150K+). In my experience Toyota Hybrids are good from the factory for at least a 250K service life.
Yup – this is exactly my thinking. My first choice right now is 2020+ Highlander Hybrid to get the 35 mpg, then potentially an older Highlander Hybrid, then NA V6’s (Highlander, Pilot, maybe Telluride). I pretty much write off all the turbo 4’s, but unlike the Atlas or Explorer the CX-9 sometimes sneaks through because of my soft spot for Mazdas.
The family car sees about 15k a year and I want to keep it at least a decade. New cars are too expensive, so most of the options in my price range have 50-80k on them already. Which further drives home the need for 200k+ reliability.
I went NA on the Highlander as it a third car, maybe 5-7k a year, mostly vacations, hauling. I daily a ’14 Camry Hybrid and prefer the lower H point. I also drive a lot for my job and put 25k or so on annually, so I just want a comfortable, low fuss car. I make money by driving an older Hybrid. My partner has an ’07 Corolla that sees limited use. If I was going to replace it, I would consider a full EV.
My daily is a ’14 Mazda3 hatch, NA2.0 with 6sp and I love it. I can get 40 mpg on the highway if needed, but my commute is short and all on surface streets. An EV might fit the bill better, but it would cost more to replace and I like driving the 3. It’s got 135k and I hope to pass it on to my oldest in 6 years when she starts driving.
An NA Toyota/Honda V6 is an easy 200k+ engine. Honda’s need timing belts every 75k or so and seem to have more fragile transmissions. I bought this Highlander with 161k (not intending for it to be a lifetime vehicle and knowing my use case).
Looks like someone took a Range Rover, inflated it, then rammed it straight into the nearest brick wall
There’s something vaguely “Snap-Tite model” about the tabs at the top of the wheel arches but otherwise no notes. It’s an impressive-looking beast.
Whoh a front bumper. Who will break thousands with a mild parking lot bump? Nah it far better to have the “modern” trend of no front bumper and huge bills in walking pace wrecks.
It’s hard to overstate how much the Telluride did for Hyundai/Kia. It came totally out of left field and essentially became the default option in a very competitive segment. I had less than 0 interest in family haulers back in 2019 but I still vividly remember seeing them in the wild for the first few times and being like “holy shit what is that? It looks amazing” only to be shocked to find out it was a Kia and not a Land Rover or highly spec’d Jeep product.
It was imperative that they didn’t screw this update up, and while I’m positive the usual bellyachers/KOREAN CAR BAD crowd will bemoan this as a hideous abomination, I think the designers did just fine. It looks like an evolution of the first generation one, it keeps a lot of the design elements that made the old one stand out, and it looks a bit more upmarket and fancy.
Unlike literally everyone else Hyundai/Kia also seem to understand how to exercise restraint when it comes to technology. The entire dashboard isn’t SCREEN, there are physical controls, there’s no haptic bullshit, no stupid passenger infotainment, et cetera. Really the only drawback to the current one is that it’s awful on gas but the new hybrid powertrain will fix that issue.
Hell I wouldn’t be shocked if the Palluride twins are hybrid-only after the mid cycle refresh. Anyway, this is exactly what the market wants and they’ll sell every single one of them that they make. I’d love to look at one for my wife but she refuses to be seen driving a Korean car.
No…. its not ” Korean car bad”… Its “Hyundai/Kia bad”. Because believe it or not, my former boss and my current boss both own Hyundais- one a Santa Fe and the other a Kona and both of them burn so much oil they have to be topped off at every single fillup. They have had several major issues with some of their 4 cylinder engines. Millions of them. I have no issue with cars from any XXX brand or country. But given how much Hyundai has gone out of their way to avoid fixing the issues the two people I mentioned have had I’m not sure I’m buying something from them.
I probably would not hesitate to lease one. But to own for the long-haul? Ehh….
I have been impressed by each Hyundai/Kia I have ever rented. I’ll take one over a Nissan/Toyota damn near each time given a choice. I just hesitate to actually BUY one. I tend to keep cars for the long haul and had a good friend go through the Theta engine replacement nightmare on an otherwise wonderful Kia Soul. Add in that car getting stolen once… I really root for them and like the cars a lot to drive. But do I want to actually own one for a decade plus like I tend to for a Toyota?
Before everyone here absolutely whines and complains about the styling, just remember that as soon as Lexus dropped the mega huge hourglass grille on the GX460 sales skyrocketed, and they did for every other model. Not to mention the usual complaints of “I hate everything about this” are always from people who were never going to buy it new regardless.
I think it’s a solid follow-up and is exactly what the market wants, and it’ll sell like hotcakes.
It looks expensive because it probably is expensive. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kia continues to try to bring the Telluride upmarket. They already succeeded in convincing people to sell their first born to acquire one during the pandemic, ironic given the soccer mom vehicle du jour exists to transport said first child to soccer practice, but alas.
Overall I think it’s a pretty nice update, though I find the bottom half of the front end to look sort of unfinished.
The entry trims on the current Telluride are already a good bit lower than even the old Palisade was (with the exception of an entry AWD trim for those so inclined) and had a lot of value to them. I fully expect the new one will jump in price if just to give the Sorento more breathing room, and a new Sorento I assume will come by the end of the decade too.
That’ll do. That 2.5T hybrid powertrain has to be coming and everyone who felt the new Palisade was too out there will be heading down to the Kia dealer to buy one of these.
HK is doing a pretty incredible job right now – pretty much any kind of car you want is available from their brands, often with 3+ different powertrain choices.