Kia’s new double-cab bakkie could spawn a Fortuner rival, suggests exec…

By: CAR magazine

A Kia executive in Australia has hinted the Korean firm’s upcoming double-cab bakkie could spawn a body-on-frame SUV to take on the likes of Toyota’s Fortuner and Ford’s Everest.

Speaking to CarsGuide, Kia Australia product manager Roland Rivera suggested there was an opportunity to offer a new large SUV alongside the unibody Sorento (and below the larger Telluride).

“Out of Georgia, Telluride is still left-hand drive. We’ll review; it’s always under constant review. There’s definitely room above Sorento, or even beside a Sorento in a ladder-frame form,” Rivera told the publication.

“We’d like to think that if there was development for a commercial range, then it would have the ability to be not just one particular type of body on top,” he added.

Kia Australia’s chief operations officer, Damien Meredith, agreed the firm would benefit from more large SUVs.

“I think we need more. I think we need probably one or two bigger ones, to be quite honest. That would help us dramatically,” Meredith said.

In 2019, Kia officials Down Under confirmed work had already started on a new range of ladder-frame bakkies, which would likely be closely related to sister company Hyundai’s upcoming pick-up range.

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