Along For The Telluride

Kia’s biggest and most plush vehicle is a hit in the USA – but will it ever come to India?

- Pablo Chaterji

Is Kia on a roll? A better question might be ‘Does ice melt?’ or ‘Are Boomers quite often annoying?’ In India, within just over four months of its launch, the Seltos has blazed its way to the very top of the sales charts, becoming the top-selling SUV in the country. Similarly, in them thar Yoonited States, the brand has been growing from strength to strength, with models like the Sportage and Soul forming a solid foundation for a sales figure of over half a million vehicles last year.

The one segment of the pie that the Korean brand didn’t have a finger in until recently was the full fat, get-out-of-my-way, tarmaccrushing SUV that Americans can’t seem to get enough of — but that changed last January when Kia unveiled the Telluride at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Since then, the bruiser in the lineup has racked up sales of over 50,000 units which is an impressive number given the kind of competition it faces in the USA from well-established brands in that space; it has also managed to win a few awards, so clearly it began doing a lot of things right straight out of the blocks.