Comments by "Stephen Hendricks" (@stephenhendricks103) on "" video.

  1. No. The Palisade is built in Korea and aimed at international markets in Asia and Europe. The Telluride is built in Georgia (the state not the country) and aimed exclusively at the North American market.
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  2. If I expected to keep a vehicle for 25 years, I'd buy a 4Runner. But an inefficient 4 liter engine mated to a dated five speed transmission is the price one pays for that durability.
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  3. Traditionally, KIA has been challenged in terms of fuel economy in most of their vehicles. The 3.8L V6 running the Atkinson Cycle, a design that sacrifices performance to some extent for fuel economy, is designed to address that issue. Thus, even though the engine is half a liter larger than the 3.3L V6 in the Sorento, the fuel economy is at least equal and the 0-60 performance (a bit below 7.5 seconds) is the same. Some will yearn for a turbo version of the 3.3L V6 found in the Stinger but I strongly suspect that ain't happenin' either in Telluride or in the Palisade. In the first place scalding performance in a mainstream 3 row crossover ranks about 25th among the top ten priorities of customers. The "take rate" would be minuscule. Considering the massive demand for the current version of the Telluride I suspect that any KIA exec that suggests diverting production to such a vehicle will be putting the contents of his office in a cardboard box within the week. Even if that weren't the case, the management of the Hyundai/KIA conglomerate would red light any turbo that risks cannibalizing sales of the forthcoming Genesis SUV.
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  4. The RWD and RWD-biased AWD Explorer platform will sway some. But considering that a major advantage of an RWD vehicle is towing capacity the Explorer is seriously short on that score. The highest tow rating of any Explorer is only 5600 lbs compared to the Durango's 8700 lbs! That may not matter to those who don't engage in serious towing but even a moderately optioned lowest trim Explorer has an MSRP approaching $50,000 and that's with a 2.3L turbo four banger, an engine that's impressive in a base level Mustang weighing 3500 lbs but with questions of long term durability in a vehicle that weighs about 2.5 tons when loaded with fuel, passengers, and gear.
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  5. The Palisade's near luxury vibe is designed to appeal to international markets in Asia and Europe. North Americans find "rugged" luxury far more appealing than consumers in those markets.
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