2011 Kia Sportage Lx Sport Utility 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Kia shows the inside of its body-on-frame Mohave the Master SUV

Kia published a sketch showing the inside of a full-size SUV named Mohave the Master that it plans to launch in its home market in the coming weeks. The family hauler will be positioned near the top of its South Korean range as its most expensive high-riding model, and unverified rumors claim it could appear in American showrooms sooner or later. Presumably named after the Mojave Desert, the Mohave lives up to its upmarket positioning with an elegant-looking interior characterized by horizontal surfaces that emphasize its width, wood trim, plus contrast stitching on the dashboard and on the door panels. Keep in mind the sketch might show a relatively expensive trim level, and lesser variants could look considerably less posh. The sketch suggests the Mojave shares no parts with the Telluride, the three-row SUV Kia launched on the American market in 2019. The infotainment system's touchscreen is neatly integrated into the dashboard, not propped up on it, and silver accents frame the piano black center console. The Telluride is Kia's answer to the Volkswagen Atlas; the Mohave looks like the firm's Touareg. kia-mohave-the-master-exterior-1 View 3 Photos Stepping outside, the Mohave wears a bold design defined by an upright grille with chrome-look vertical slats, LED headlights and a model-specific emblem instead of the usual Kia logo. Its rear end receives a wide light bar with LED inserts that echo the shape of the grille. The fresh design hides an evolution of the body-on-frame architecture found under the previous Mohave, which the firm's American division launched as the short-lived Borrego in 2008. While Kia hasn't released technical specifications, the emblem on the hatch confirms one of the engines offered will be a 3.0-liter V6. It might be the turbodiesel unit currently available in the Mohave, though it's not unreasonable to assume Kia will also offer a gasoline-powered six. Another emblem denotes the availability of four-wheel drive.  The Kia Mohave the Master will allegedly go on sale in South Korea in September, so a full reveal is imminent. Rumors point to an American comeback, but Kia hasn't announced plans to add another SUV to its line-up in the United States. Auto News Kia SUV

Kia's brand perception still painfully lags behind reality

I can't tell you how many times I've been driving with friends or family in a decidedly nice Korean press car, only to have a passenger notice the logo on the steering wheel and exclaim, "Wait... this is a Kia?" For every time I roll my eyes at a story with a lede about how Hyundai "is really gaining momentum these days," I get equally annoyed when people comment on how Kia is finally starting to make decent cars. This is hardly news. The brand has been pumping out really solid stuff for a while now.
But as it turns out, not everyone knows that. According to Ward's Auto, speaking to Kia marketing chief Michael Sprague, the automaker recently placed third-to-last in a recent ALG Brand Perception of Quality study, only besting Suzuki and Smart. Wow.
Ward's notes that Kia recently earned a credible sixth place in J.D. Power & Associates' Initial Quality Study, and yet still fell way behind pretty much every other brand in the ALG study. The Korean automaker's cars have also won numerous awards in recent years, and have generally earned positive reviews from the media, Autoblog included.

Kia will unveil the new 2021 Sorento at the Geneva Motor Show

While the 2020 Chicago Auto Show is around the corner, Kia picked this year's edition of the Geneva show to introduce the next-generation Sorento. The popular crossover will arrive in time for the 2021 model year. The South Korean company explained it designed and engineered the new Sorento "to take on everything life can throw at it," and it published a pair of red-tinted teaser sketches to accompany its announcement. The images would normally give us our best look yet at the upcoming crossover, but spy photographers unabashedly ruined Kia's surprise by sending us a full gallery of images showing the soft-roader completely camouflage-free on the set of a commercial shoot.  The current-generation Sorento is one of the oldest cars in the Kia range, and the transformation is drastic. It receives a bolder, sharper look that falls in line with the company's current design language without copying its bigger or smaller siblings. Kia's design team has been on a roll in recent years, and the Sorento extends it. kia-sorento-teaser-24-1 View 2 Photos While our spies didn't get a look at the Sorento's interior, low-resolution spy shots published on Instagram confirm the transformation continues beneath the sheetmetal. The center console adopts a more rugged look characterized by brushed aluminum-like surfaces, and the infotainment system's touchscreen is now positioned on top of the dashboard instead of being embedded into it. We also expect to find nicer materials inside. What's between the fenders? Your guess is as good as ours, but Kia previously confirmed hybrid and plug-in hybrid models will join the range. Whether they'll be available at launch hasn't been made public yet. Additional information about the 2021 Kia Sorento will emerge in the coming weeks, and Autoblog will bring you live images of it straight from the show floor in Geneva on March 3. An American debut is likely scheduled for the New York Auto Show in April, and deliveries will begin shortly after. Pricing will start in the vicinity of $27,000. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.