2023 Kia Telluride facelift revealed, still no go for Australia

April, 2022: Updated Kia Telluride revealed

The 2023 Kia Telluride has been unveiled this week, forming a mid-life update to the large SUV.

The Telluride is a platform mate to the Hyundai Palisade sold in Australia, but unlike that car, the Telluride is only offered in North America.

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For the new model year, the already bold-looking Telluride gets a new grille with a more distinct silver frame bordering a subtler black pattern and Kia's now familiar new logo.

The vertically-aligned headlights also get a refresh with with a new LED signature, while the bumper features a big new garnish that gives the large SUV more of an off-roading look.

Changes at the rear are limited to a lightly revised lighting signature in the hooked tail lamps, and the bumper gets a similar redesign to that featured at the front end.

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The changes inside are more significant, with the entire upper dash replaced to give the Telluride a more contemporary look – particularly in the case of the huge 12.3-inch displays that reach across the dash to form both the main infotainment screen and a new digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel.

There's a flat new horn pad for the steering wheel, but the interior is otherwise largely unchanged, with the lower dash, centre console and door cards all carrying over with only minor material trim and colour revisions.

On the technology front, there's new safety kit, including sign recognition capability and forward collision avoidance at intersections, along with a navigation-based smart cruise control.

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Powertrains likewise remain unchanged, limited to a 217kW/355Nm 3.8-litre petrol V6 matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission and the option of all-wheel drive in place of the standard front-wheel drive setup.

Continue reading below for insight on why the Telluride isn't offered in Australia.

Mike Stevens

The story to here

December, 2020: Why can't Australia have the Telluride?

If you know your car companies, then you probably know that Hyundai and Kia are directly related by blood – but what you might not know is that the two don’t always get along.

In most sibling rivalries, there’s the older, more measured one and there’s the younger, feistier one that won’t necessarily follow the lead set by their elders.

Thus it is with Hyundai and Kia, whose model lineups show signs of both commonality (Sportage and Tucson, i30 Sedan and Cerato) and divergence (Stinger and N products).

However, it came as a real surprise to hear that Kia wasn’t going to follow the pack and import its own eight-seat quasi-luxury large SUV in the wake of the successful rollout of the Hyundai Palisade.

It’s recently shown that it has an appetite for larger, well-appointed SUVs with the launch of the new-generation Sorento, while the incoming Carnival eight-seater is by far and away the best performer in the (admittedly small) people mover space.

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On the surface, the decision not to bring the Kia Telluride comes down to a simple matter of geography and numbers.

While the Telluride and Palisade share platforms and drivetrains across their respective ranges, the key issue standing in the way is where the two are made.

Because the Palisade is sourced from Korea, right-hand-drive is not an issue for the local operation to source.

However, the Telluride is produced in a single plant in the US state of Georgia, which is reportedly flat-out keeping up with American demand despite the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Given the numbers – the West Point plant can build up to 340,000 cars a year – it makes no economic sense to compromise the plant’s output for a relative handful of right-hook versions that would cost a bomb to ship out to Australia.

“We’re no-go for Telluride,” Kia’s chief operating officer Damien Meredith said.

Interestingly, he’s not convinced that the Telluride would necessarily suit the local Kia product mix.

“I don’t think, with what we’ve got and what we can do, I don’t think it’s necessary for the Australian market,” he said. “Even if we had the opportunity in right-hand-drive [to import it], I’m not quite sure it’s the right vehicle for us.”

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A significant upgrade to the Carnival people mover – including a comprehensive rethink of the styling and presentation of its currently boxy visage - will hit the market very early in 2021, and Meredith believes that it can do the job

“We’ve got a pretty good range up there, the new [Carnival] which I think will be incredibly successful, and I think it will fill the gambit there,” he said.