Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, SUVs, Kia
Detroit 2008 Preview: New Kia 7-seat SUV teaser shot
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Kia has released a teaser image of the new seven-seater SUV it'll debut in January at the Detroit Auto Show. The vehicle currently codenamed HM will be based on the Mesa concept first shown back in 2005. Aside from being larger than the Sorento, Kia isn't spilling any other details right now. From what can be seen in the teaser shot, it looks pretty conventional and doesn't appear to break any new ground, stylewise, in an increasingly crowded segment.
[Source: Kia]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MGBYG 9:08AM (9/20/2007)
Looks to be another Lexus-wannabe at 2/3 the price...Kia's new mission?
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jb 9:16AM (9/20/2007)
wOW, exactly what we need these days. Another big SUV...
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sellitman 10:13AM (9/20/2007)
With gas up to $3 per gallon, the polar ice cap melting all these idiots can do is make another large SUV?
Oh piggy ...piggy have we got another car for you!
Shipey 1:17PM (9/20/2007)
When was the last time you visited the polar ice cap?
Will you really miss it?
If so, and you like Hyundai, now you can go visit it... driving this. Let the rest of us know if it's still there when you get back.
Hyundai is just fleshing out their lineup. They're pretty relentless, and I admire them for it. I don't really dig their cars, but they are getting better quickly, and the new coupe has potential.
Shipey 1:19PM (9/20/2007)
lol, Kia sorry. Keep getting the korean makers mixed up.
I need a nap.
ndchamp 9:38AM (9/20/2007)
Will this be a stretched Sorento or a re-badged Santa Fe?
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I_Hate_China 9:59AM (9/20/2007)
This is an Escalade-sized vehicle based on an all new chassis. The next-gen Sorento gets a shortened version of this chassis.
There are already some driving impressions posted. Overall very positive impressions. Ride is said to be top quality, but suspension is tuned a bit soft.
Snark 9:39AM (9/20/2007)
How thoroughly uninspired.
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FK 9:50AM (9/20/2007)
Is this going to be the same size class as the expy, tahoe, etc.. ?
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Josh 10:02AM (9/20/2007)
Yeah, I wonder what platform they're using.
Last I've heard, Hyundai/Kia do not have a full-sized, body on frame truck platform to use. Unless it's just an oversized Sonata.
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joe97 10:11AM (9/20/2007)
That's where you are wrong. It is under a BOF truck platform - a stretch Sorento platform to my knowledge.
Kia Sorento is not a rebadge of Hyundai Santa Fe
Kia HM (Mesa) is not a rebadge of Hyundai Veracruz
In both cases, the former sits on a truck platform and the latter on a car platform aka a crossover
I_Hate_China 10:31AM (9/20/2007)
> Last I've heard, Hyundai/Kia do not have a full-sized, body on frame truck platform to use.
You heard so long time ago.
AnonyMust 10:05AM (9/20/2007)
There are millions of SUV's on the road and it's a fact that people buy these things despite high gas prices and the farce of global warming. Automakers are going to build these things because they make money on this segment. So, Kia and Hyundai, because they are late to the party, despite very good performance and reliability in their vehicles, should just pack up the camp and not try to make money. Silly liberals. Not all of us just 'fall in line' on this. Bring the Mesa and put 'er in the market and let the market dictate who produces and sells SUV's.
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sellitman 4:47PM (9/20/2007)
Most science deniers who originally said Global Warming was a hoax have now admitted they were wrong. Now they conveniently claim all the tons of pollutants we are spewing into the atmosphere have nothing to do with it, that it's just a cycle the earth is going through.
I guess the Earth is flat too?
Wake up before you doom your own kids and their kids to a world very different than the one we have now.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Lib
Harry Ariola 11:34AM (9/20/2007)
Dadgummit, AnonyMust, must you think for yourself? The audacity to extricate yourself from the green lemmings. Heresy, I tell you! Heresy!
GEOFF CALDWELL 12:18PM (9/20/2007)
DITTO
Josh 10:17AM (9/20/2007)
Woops. I guess I'm not as much of a low-cost, korean automaker fan as you, Joe.
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joe97 10:27AM (9/20/2007)
I did a good deed by giving out some facts; it has nothing to do with being a fan or not - thanks for jumping to conclusion by the way...
TriShield 10:20AM (9/20/2007)
The Koreans copy the Tahoe. With fuel as expensive as it is, maybe they should be copying the Prius instead?
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I_Hate_China 10:28AM (9/20/2007)
Koreans are the exactly opposite of Japanese; they love big cars/SUVs and hate small cars in spite of $7/gallon gas price. This is why Hyundai's best seller in Korea is full-size Azera sedan while Getz sell a few hundred units a year.