What you’re looking at here could be one of the first on-road trials for Kia’s highly-anticipated Toyota LandCruiser Prado rival, according to the KoreanCarBlog.com.
While it looks like a regular Kia Mohave – one of the South Korean car-maker’s larger SUVs that is not sold in Australia – the higher ride height of the vehicle pictured here suggests some telling engineering work could be in play with this V6 diesel-powered ladder-chassis wagon.
Kia has made no secret of its desire to have a Toyota Prado – or Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series – competitor, a vehicle that may end up replacing the Mohave (aka Borrego) altogether and be a truly global vehicle with both left- and right-hand drive production.
It is expected to be based on a development of the robust frame-based chassis that will underpin forthcoming one-tonne dual-cab utes from both Kia and Hyundai.
Kia Australia’s top decision-makers are on record as saying how bigger and more capable SUVs and 4WDs will be vital to growing the brand.
“We need more [SUVs]. We need probably one or two bigger ones, to be quite honest,” said Kia Australia’s chief operating officer Damian Meredith earlier this year.
Kia’s next-gen flagship SUV – which could retain the Mohave name – will target countries like Australia, Russia and the Middle East with a new six-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that recently made its debut in the Genesis GV80 luxury SUV.
The 3.0-litre inline turbo-six oiler is good for 204kW and 588Nm of torque, which would afford circa-3000kg towing capacities and make the Prado’s 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine look undercooked by comparison.
Kia’s big rig should also have plenty of off-road capability built in with a dual-range transmission, locking diffs and, naturally, plenty of ground clearance.
The brand’s biggest SUV currently available in Australia is the new-generation Kia Sorento. The car-based seven-seat urban warrior is more of a Toyota Kluger rival and is not designed for challenging off-road tracks.
Kia also wants a bona fide off-roader with the requisite tough-truck looks and ability to match, whether towing heavy loads or tackling challenging off-road terrain.
“The Australian market, the way they look at upper-large SUVs are looking into LandCruiser or Prado territory and a ladder-frame SUV has specific capabilities, in off-road ability and towing capacity, that your monocoques just aren’t designed to deliver,” said Kia Australia’s product planning chief Roland Rivero told us.
By way of comparison, the Toyota Kluger is currently being outsold by both the LandCruiser Prado and the bigger, pricier LandCruiser 200 Series in Australia.
Along with ute-based 4WDs like the Isuzu MU-X and Ford Everest, it’s clear there’s strong customer demand for these types of adventurous vehicles.
The Kia Mohave spied in Korea could be the first step in the new 4x4’s real-world development process, which would see it emerge no earlier than 2023.
While Kia offers the Mohave and Telluride large SUVs overseas, neither are available in right-hand drive and therefore aren’t available in Australia.