Kia Telluride Pops Up at 2018 Fashion Week in New York

Wow, Kia Motors really has a thing for Fashion Week in New York. Back when the masses were still waiting for the 2018 Kia Stinger to hit showrooms, Kia orchestrated a little race between big names in fashion to show off the power of the Stinger during Fashion Week . Now, Kia is at it again, and decided to surprise everyone with an official preview of their new and upcoming Kia Telluride hybrid SUV. We gotta say, it’s looking much better than the spy shots of the Telluride caught earlier.

Kia Motors and Fashion Week

Like we said, this isn’t the first time Kia Motors pumped up a new vehicle before consumers can get behind the wheel. Kia Motors created a promotional event, the Stinger Runway Racing Challenge, during New York Fashion Week in September 2017. A fully functioning 1,000-foot race track was made out of New York City to test and display the power of the Kia Stinger. The biggest names in fashion, music, sports, and entertainment were driving the Stinger around the track for this event – fashion designer Brandon Maxwell, supermodels Candice Swanepoel and Joan Smalls, baseball legend Alex Rodriguez, writer and TV host Derek Blasberg, and social media personality Cameron Dallas.

Now, for 2018, Kia is at it again. Rumor has it, according to _ Autoblog _ , fashion designer Brandon Maxwell arranged a deal with Kia to let them grab center stage this year. Maxwell wanted to show off the Telluride on a purely aesthetic and lifestyle note – that meant no specs or racing the Telluride. It’s all about looks and functionality for this debut, and Kia sure delivered.

The Kia Telluride shown off at Fashion week comes in a dark-gold green color and is stylized with off-road gear that includes off-road bumpers, skid plates, an exterior spare tire carrier, a roof rack, an air intake snorkel, leather-trimmed side mirrors, and even a ladder built into the side of the body to get to the roof rack with ease. Yep, if the Kia Telluride is gonna show up at Fashion Week, it better look stylish. The SUV was also personalized to match Maxwell’s Texas inspired SS 2019 collection, so the fashion show actually accentuated the looks of the Telluride. Candice Swanepoel from last year and supermodel Bella Hadid are said to have already joined the fan base for the hybrid SUV.

When it comes to the specs, none were spoken of. This is a Fashion Show remember, no one attending cares about engines and horsepower – too busy counting calories. But we do know the internal combustion engine is a 3.5-liter V6, and when combined with an unnamed electric motor the hybrid SUV should be able to generate 400 horsepower with an average fuel economy of 30 mpg on the highway. There were also some shots of the interior taken.

It would seem that Kia has kept some of the stylish design cues seen in the concept, but we were curious about the large sunroof from the concept. Come to think of it though, there’s barely any pictures of the roof from the show…hmm. The doors didn’t seem to have the tech shown off in the concept either, but with the release date still up in the air, Kia Motors has time to finish implementing the tech they promised.

What do you think? Sure looks a lot classier than originally thought. But then that raises the question – if the spied SUV wasn’t the Telluride, then how many SUVs is Kia Motors planning? Let’s discuss on Miami Lakes Kia social media .

Photo Source/Copyright: Automobile.mag

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