10 of the Kia Telluride's Coolest Design Details, from the Designer Himself

Kia already has a sizable three-row crossover geared toward American families-it's called the Sorento-but these days, an automaker can never have too many SUVs. Enter the all-new, even bigger three-row Telluride, which towers over the Sorento it joins in Kia's lineup. It's bolder, brasher, and more American-looking than anything Kia has ever made (the body-on-frame Borrego SUV included), and it debuted, fittingly, at the 2019 Detroit auto show right in the American Big Three's back yard. At first blush, the Telluride's look might look vaguely familiar (we initially likened it loosely to GMC's Yukon), but we had Kia's chief U.S. designer Tom Kearns walk us through the SUV's "clean, pure, minimalistic" style and the flourishes that help it stand apart. The man has led Kia's Irvine, California, design studio for 14 years-that's longer than half of Kia's existence in the American market-and is a big contributor to the brand's shedding of its bargain-basement image.