When Kia entered the competitive automotive industry in the United States, it slowly made a name for itself as the go-to brand for bargain hunters. The South Korean automaker consistently rolled out vehicles that are modern, stylish, and affordable. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore as the company found a gem in the form of a mid-size SUV–the Telluride.
According to data released by Cox Automotive, majority of buyers prefer getting the Kia Telluride in premium trim levels and with more add-ons over the entry level to mid-range levels.
On average, the model’s transaction price per unit goes to as high as $40,000 from the time it was officially launched eight months ago. This means that most of the buyers are going for the more expensive variants such as the SX trim or getting lower trims and boosting them with available options.
The model’s base trim, Telluride LX, costs $32,875, while the EX and SX trims retail for $38,185 and $42,585 respectively.
It is a welcome situation for Kia and its dealers who claim to be having difficulties in making sure the model remains available in stores. Based on the same report published by Cox Automotive, the newcomer SUV only spends an average of 10 days in dealerships before getting snagged.
Since the Telluride’s debut early this year, Kia has so far sold at least 34,160 units of the mid-size SUV, more than 6,300 of which went home with their new owners just last month.
With this kind of performance, the new Kia Telluride’s sales numbers is quickly surpassing that of its corporate sibling, the Hyundai Palisade, which only sold a little over 5,100 units in August 2019. Although it is also worth noting that the Palisade was only launched in June.
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