Page 36 - Motor Trend (January 2020)
P. 36

SUV OF THE YEAR  I  Winner



































                           WORDS ANGUS MACKENZIE
                           PHOTOGRAPHS JADE NELSON
















































                 he Kia Telluride’s achievement         refinement, and build quality.
                 as winner of MotorTrend ’s 2020          Manufactured in West Point,
                 SUV of the Year award is more          Georgia, the Telluride is a Kia built in
                 inevitability than incongruity.        America for Americans: a comfortable
            T It’s been a long time coming for          and roomy three-row SUV that’s
            a company that was founded in 1944          perfectly pitched at the heart of a
            and for decades has lived with the          highly competitive segment that
            backhanded compliment of building           includes products from Chevy, Dodge,
            “cheap and cheerful” transportation         and Ford, as well as Honda, Toyota,
            for buyers on a budget.                     Nissan, Mazda, and Volkswagen.
               But this award is the deserved             As expected of a Kia, the Telluride
            recognition that today’s Korean auto        is a terrific value, offering lavish levels
            industry has evolved to possess the         of standard equipment even in the
            skill and talent to design, engineer, and   $32,785 base model. And when you
            manufacture world-class vehicles—           load it up to its as-tested $46,910 price,
            ones able to best their mainstream          it absolutely deflates its mass-market
            Japanese, European, and American            competition.
            rivals in terms of style, dynamics,           But value is only one element of

            36  MOTORTREND.COM JANUARY 2020
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