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2020 Kia Telluride makes surprise debut at New York Fashion Week

About two and a half years after the concept's debut in Detroit, the (mostly) production 2020 Kia Telluride has been revealed in New York for Fashion Week. The odd location for the reveal has to do with a partnership with fashion designer Brandon Maxwell who got Kia to donate to his childhood school district in Marfa, Texas, as part of the deal to display the SUV at the show. It has also been customized to fit Maxwell's Texas-themed line of fashion for spring and summer of 2019. Although the production SUV is partly obscured by custom features such as the off-road bumpers, skid plates, auxiliary lights, ladder and spare tire, this is still our best look yet at the SUV. There's clearly a lot of influence from the old concept, but there's also been quite a bit of compromise for production. It's a clean design that's still pretty squared off. The headlight and grille design borrow heavily from the concept, and the taillights are pulled right from it. It's much taller now and more rounded. The rear hatch isn't upright and vertical anymore, the front fascia has been given an arc that softens it, and the proportions between the headlights and grille seem like they may still be in flux. Kia is still keeping many of the technical details under wraps. The company says that the Telluride will have seating for up to 8 passengers, and that it's a few inches longer and wider than the current largest crossover in its line, the 7-passenger Sorento. It will also have a V6 under the hood. Availability and pricing still have yet to be announced, but we expect it to go on sale early next year. The crossover will be assembled at Kia's factory in Georgia. Related Video:

Next-generation Kia Optima spied for the first time

On the heels of the completely redesigned Hyundai Sonata, one of our spy photographers has finally caught the next-generation 2021 Kia Optima out testing. It makes sense the family sedan would appear soon, since it will undoubtedly be based on the Sonata just like past Optimas. Unlike the Sonata, though, the new Optima looks like a very evolutionary design. The headlights are still wide and low in the nose. The "tiger nose" grille sits between the lights. It looks as though the grille may be a bit thinner than on the current model. The overall profile is still similar to the current model and the Kia Stinger, and it appears Kia will continue to have some interesting lines connecting the rear pillars and the roof. Among the subtle differences are a revised greenhouse. The pieces of glass just ahead of the C-pillars follow the curve of the roof more than the somewhat upright pieces on the current car. The rear taillights, though still thin and wide, now appear to protrude from the rear. This particular version also appears to have fake tail pipes. Though this is the first time we've seen the Optima, and it's still well-camouflaged, we expect to see the car revealed sometime next year. The reason is that the Sonata it's based on is nearly on sale, so a lot of the Optima's development is probably finished. It will likely share the Sonata's powertrains, which for now include a 191-horsepower naturally aspirated 2.5-liter 4-cylinder and a 180-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter 4-cylinder. Each of these is mated to an eight-speed automatic. A more powerful turbo four-cylinder should be available in the near future.

Did a US automaker blow the whistle on Hyundai, Kia fuel economy issue?

In all of the most hotly contested mainstream segments of the motoring universe, the difference of one mile per gallon averaged on a widow sticker can mean the difference between a sale and a walk-off - to say nothing of two or three mpg. So, when Hyundai and Kia were forced to reveal that many of their 40-mpg ratings were actually 38s and 37s, well, it made for big news.
It also, conceivably, made for a competitive disadvantage immediately, when the Korean automakers' products were being shopped versus the guys down the block. And it's that disadvantage that makes a recent story from Automotive News so juicy.
AN is reporting that Margo Oge, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, got a tip in 2010 that Hyundai/Kia were "cheating" to get its impressive fuel economy numbers. The tip, said Oge (who retired from the EPA this past September), came from a senior vice president from a domestic automaker. The source was credible enough for Oge to launch an audit of the Hyundai figures, which ultimately lead to the debacle that we reported on a few months ago, and that the Korean company has been trying to bounce back from ever since.