Telluride Hits The “Triple Crown” Of Awards In Debut Year

The 2020 Kia Telluride has won three prestigious automotive awards in its first year on the market (2019). The hot-selling new SUV was named the 2020 NACTOY Utility Vehicle of the Year, MotorTrend SUV of the Year, and made the Car and Driver 10-Best list.

Whether we’re talking about horse racing, baseball, or in this case automotive awards, winning in three segments is not easy to do. The fact that the Telluride caught the attention of the industry’s most coveted accolades goes to show that it’s an impressive SUV.

“Winning this ‘Triple Crown’ of prizes is a spectacular achievement for the Telluride,” said Michael Cole, president, Kia Motors America (KMA), “and also for Kia Motors America. This is not just the unprecedented achievement of a terrific vehicle, but it’s also a high-water mark for the brand and places Kia at the forefront of global automakers.”

The North American Car, Utility, and Truck of the Year (NACTOY) awards are determined by jurors who base their decisions on months of test drives and evaluations. MotorTrend gives awards to the best-performing models by vehicle type while taking different criteria into consideration. Car and Driver’s 10-Best list is reserved for models with exceptional value, driving dynamics and mission fulfillment.

Needless to say, all three awards consider a variety of factors. KMA must be thrilled that their new SUV was able to capture all of them. It’s the ultimate bragging right to show their competitors how it’s done. Americans have started to gravitate towards buying bigger vehicles and Kia has given them one they can be excited about in the 2020 Telluride.

Since hitting the market in early 2019, nearly 60,000 Tellurides have been sold and demand continues to outpace supply. Conceived, designed, and developed in the U.S. specifically for the U.S. market, the Telluride is proudly assembled in West Point, Georgia, and is the first Kia vehicle to be exported from the United States, according to a press release.

For more information on the Kia Telluride, visit https://www.kia.com/us/en/telluride.