Upmarket looks, mass-market price: The 2027 Kia Telluride, driven

March 18, 2026
Upmarket looks, mass-market price: The 2027 Kia Telluride, driven

Here's something that caught my attention — Kia’s 2027 Telluride looks like a luxury SUV but comes with a price that won't break the bank. Kyle Hyatt from Technology highlights how Kia took the winning formula of the original, stretched it out, and added a touch of Range Rover style — seriously, it’s striking. Under the hood, Kia ditched the old 3.8-liter engine for a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder, and now there's a hybrid option too. That hybrid packs 329 horsepower and boasts a claimed 35 mpg — impressive for a three-row SUV. What’s fascinating here is how Kia’s blending upscale looks with mass-market affordability, making luxury more accessible. According to Hyatt, the new Telluride signals Kia's push toward more premium styling without the premium price tag. And get this — car buyers are gonna get a lot more SUV for their money. So, keep an eye on this one — it's shaping up to be a game-changer in the family SUV space.

Way back in 2019 when Kia introduced the first-generation Telluride, both the media and the car-buying public went nuts for it. Dealers struggled to keep the Telluride on their lots, and that’s before the insanity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic a year later. Now, fast-forward six years, and there’s a new Telluride for the 2027 model year, and once again, Kia seems to have knocked it out of the park.

The 2027 Kia Telluride follows the same formula as the old one, but it has grown in every direction except engine cylinder count, and it looks a whole lot like the folks at Kia’s US design studio had “Greatest Hits of Range Rover” on repeat, which is a very good thing. Oh, and there's finally a hybrid version.

Under the hood

The second-generation Telluride has fully ditched its old 3.8 L six-cylinder engine. In its place, it is now offering either a turbocharged 2.5 L four-cylinder gasoline engine that produces 274 hp (204 kW) and 311 lb-ft (422 Nm) of torque, or that same engine with a dual-motor hybrid system. The hybrid version produces a combined 329 hp (245 kW) and 339 lb-ft (460 Nm) while returning a claimed 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km) combined.

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Audio Transcript

Way back in 2019 when Kia introduced the first-generation Telluride, both the media and the car-buying public went nuts for it. Dealers struggled to keep the Telluride on their lots, and that’s before the insanity brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic a year later. Now, fast-forward six years, and there’s a new Telluride for the 2027 model year, and once again, Kia seems to have knocked it out of the park.

The 2027 Kia Telluride follows the same formula as the old one, but it has grown in every direction except engine cylinder count, and it looks a whole lot like the folks at Kia’s US design studio had “Greatest Hits of Range Rover” on repeat, which is a very good thing. Oh, and there's finally a hybrid version.

Under the hood

The second-generation Telluride has fully ditched its old 3.8 L six-cylinder engine. In its place, it is now offering either a turbocharged 2.5 L four-cylinder gasoline engine that produces 274 hp (204 kW) and 311 lb-ft (422 Nm) of torque, or that same engine with a dual-motor hybrid system. The hybrid version produces a combined 329 hp (245 kW) and 339 lb-ft (460 Nm) while returning a claimed 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km) combined.

Read full article

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Upmarket looks, mass-market price: The 2027 Kia Telluride, driven | Speasy