2027 Kia Telluride -- Going Bold, Staying Boxy
What do you do if you're tasked with designing the 2027 Kia Telluride? You have a popular SUV that's in demand in part because of its boxy looks.
So you don't want to change that -- but you need to tweak things enough that consumers know this model is new.
The answer? Go bolder with the grille. Then, moving inside, get riskier with the steering wheel and digital gauge and infotainment screens.
Oh, and make the thing bigger while you're at it.
The hood stays straight and clean -- to borrow two words from Kia's press release -- but the grille is now "high-gloss". The headlights are larger and more clearly vertical.
Comparing photos of the 2025 to the 2027 -- Kia will skip a model year since calendar year 2026 is right around the corner -- the grille doesn't look super different in terms of pattern, but it appears to be bigger. It definitely stands out more in the press shots.
Other notable exterior design elements include floating wheel cladding and a tapered roofline. Door handles are flush and there are notches in the wheel wells. The beltline rises in the rear.
X-Pro trims, which are meant to being able to handle some light off-roading, get blacked-out wheel arches, mirror housings, beltline trim, and D-pillars. The roof rails are raised, the grille gets a mesh design, the front bumper is painted black, and all-terrain tires are the standard. This trim has 9.1 inches of ground clearance. Tow hooks are standard, front and rear.
X-Pros further get lights that are meant to illuminate the ground around the vehicle as well as blacked-out wheels. Wheel sizes, which appear to be trim dependent, are 18-, 20-, and 21-inches.
Inside, you can get faux wood and real metal accents, and lighting will emanate from under the center console. The rear center console can convert into a table, and the rear cargo area is configurable.
The 2027 Telluride gets longer and taller, which Kia says should make rear-seat entry and egress easier. Headroom is claimed to be increased, by as much as half an inch for those models with sunroofs.
There are more available color combinations for the interior and more color choices for the exterior.
See More Photos Of The 2027 Kia Telluride
Kia has more details to share with us -- those will be released when the public (and yours truly) gets to set its peepers on the SUV during the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show. Until then, we'll have to be content looking at photos.
[Images: Kia]
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Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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I like how Kia is keeping the Telluride’s signature boxy style while still making it look fresh. The bolder grille and tech upgrades sound great. Do you think the bigger size will make it feel less practical for city driving?
Better looking X7 for half the price.