Flagship Kia Telluride’s exterior exposed ahead of possible 2018 LA Auto Show debut

The Kia Telluride was spied naked in South Korea this week, revealing all of its exterior prematurely. The full-size SUV could debut at the 2018 LA Auto Show in November.

Designed at Kia’s California-based studio, Kia Design Center America (KDCA), the Kia Telluride is a typical American SUV with a boxy shape and dominating stance rather than dynamism. Evolving from the concept (NAIAS 2016) to the showroom-ready car, the VW Atlas rival's conservative proportions have remained unchanged, but there are some differences concerning the design.

At the front, while the concept had horizontal headlamps, the production version flaunts a vertical lighting. That’s a feature seen on the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade too. The sizeable tiger-nose grille is also different, and it looks less upright. The bumper is an entirely new piece with a twin lower air intake.

On the sides, it was obvious that the rear-hinged doors won’t make it to mass production. Changes here include larger mirrors and smaller wheels as well. At the rear, the thin vertical tail lights have a smaller footprint, the bumper seeks less attention, and the blandness of the tailgate is gone thanks to an indent above the license plate recess.

Also Read: Hyundai Creta's cousin Kia KX3 gets a makeover for MY2019

The Kia Telluride concept was underpinned by a modified chassis of the Kia Sorento. We are still to know whether the road-ready Telluride also rides on a front-wheel-drive platform, or the Kia K900’s rear-wheel-drive platform, as recent reports have said.

Under the hood, it may pack a detuned version of the Kia Stinger GT’s 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 engine that puts out 370 PS and 510 Nm of torque.

[Image Source 1: cafe.naver.com]

[Image Source 2: thekoreancarblog.com]