Kia Motors Corp. said Tuesday its Telluride SUV has been named the 2020 SUV of the year by MotorTrend, giving a further boost to the sales of the flagship SUV in North American markets.
The 2020 Telluride, designed in California and assembled in Georgia, has become the first South Korean SUV to win the MotorTrend's 2020 SUV of the Year award, the company said in a statement.
"The Telluride has been an undeniable success since its launch earlier this year, with an impressive number of consumers rediscovering Kia in the highly competitive SUV segment and more than 45,000 units sold to date," said Michael Cole, president of Kia Motors America.
This year's award winners were evaluated and selected for excelling in MotorTrend's six key category criteria: safety, efficiency, value, advancement in design, engineering excellence and performance of the intended function.
The Kia Telluride beat 40 other SUV models in the six fields to win the award.
The Telluride's sophisticated style, unmatched levels of standard equipment, smooth ride and handling contributed to the first-ever win for the Kia brand, the statement said.
MotorTrend also awarded Peter Schreyer, director in charge of the design management division at Hyundai Motor Group, its 2020 Person of the Year award for his contributions to the Korean carmaker in terms of design.
The group began its drive to place foreign talent in key decision-making positions by recruiting the ex-BMW designer to Kia in 2006 with an aim to improve the quality of its vehicles in terms of design and performance. (Yonhap)