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Kia teases sporty hatchback concept ahead of Detroit

The UK arm of Kia just released a teaser image (click to enlarge) for a new concept car that will be unveiled next month at the Detroit Auto Show. With little information to go on, the single overhead shot of the unnamed concept shows that it will be a two-door hatchback with a 2+2 seating configuration.
The brief press blast, which is posted below, promises that this is a new concept vehicle, so it's unlikely that it has anything to do with the similarly shaped Provo Concept that Kia showed off earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show. Kia says that it will release more images of the concept soon, but it won't divulge the full details about the car until Detroit.

2020 Kia Telluride is an American-made SUV, for America

Given consumers' ravenous appetite for them, it's little surprise that Kia is introducing a larger, more upmarket SUV in the Telluride as the newest entry in its lineup. But the automaker turned to classic SUVs of yesteryear as influences for the intentionally boxy and very American design that it hopes will translate with consumers. Dubbed a midsize by Kia, the Telluride will slot above the entry-level, compact Sorento as the flagship of the Korean automaker's utility-vehicle lineup. Michael Cole, Kia's North America chief operating officer, said the midsize segment is forecast to grow from 1.6 million units sold in the U.S. in 2018 to 1.8 million in five years. "This was somewhere we needed to be," he said. It's also the first Kia designed specifically for the U.S. market, with its off-road features like on-demand electronic all-wheel drive transferring torque between the front and rear wheels and its strong, stiff body, further emphasized by its unveiling in Detroit on a landscaped "torque track" assembled in surplus space on the Cobo show floor. It'll also be built at Kia's plant in West Point, Ga. "It's very much a U.S.-targeted vehicle," Cole said. "We will have some export. But the message is, made in America, made for America, it's a U.S.-centric car." Designers at Kia's design center in Irvine, Calif. "wanted to get back to a traditional SUV styling," Chief Designer Tom Kearns said. "So many EVs and SUVs these days are trying to look sporty and more car-like, more sedan-like. We didn't want to go with that approach." Kearns said his design team members referenced old-school SUVs like the Ford Bronco, old Land Rovers and the original Chevrolet Blazer when creating the Telluride, Kia's largest SUV yet. "It's not retro, but we like the genuine feel and look, the purity of old-school SUVs with the long hoods, little bit more upright windshield, not a lot of glass angles, tumblehome a little more upright, just feels more purposeful and genuine to us," he said. "Our goal is very clean, very simple, not a lot of ornamentation, just a pure, nice form that's hopefully conveying a clean, functional appearance." Inside, the designers took largely the same approach, with a clean console that emphasizes horizontality and width, matte-finished wood and simulated brushed metal accents and big grab handles flanking the shifter that emphasize the vehicle's sense of adventure.

Kia Stonic not coming to America

Related: We obsessively covered the Frankfurt Motor Show — here's our complete coverage FRANKFURT, Germany — At this year's Frankfurt auto show, Kia showed off its new Stonic subcompact crossover, the Stonic. It features all of the hallmarks of the typical affordable little crossover. It has lots of customizability in the form of many two-tone paint options. It has chunky, lifted looks with plastic cladding. It also comes with class-competitive engines making 147 and 175 horsepower. It's also based on the same platform as the compelling little Kia Rio. It seems like a shoo-in for the American market, but when it goes on sale in Europe this year, it won't be doing the same on our shores. This was confirmed by a Kia representative. His official statement was that there are no current plans for selling it in the U.S. Considering how hot the crossover market is right now, even attracting corporate cousin Hyundai with its Kona, it seems surprising Kia wouldn't be interested in fielding its own take on the segment. Perhaps Kia has concerns about it cannibalizing sales of the highly successful Soul and the all-new Rio. We wouldn't count on the Stonic staying away from the States forever, though. All that was said was the Stonic isn't planned for the U.S. That's not an outright "no, it will not come here, period." It could just be that Kia isn't ready to announce the car's introduction here, or perhaps it's still gauging interest. Maybe Kia has other small crossover-esque plans, after all, as successful and competitive as the Soul has been, it's starting to age a bit. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.