Kia has released an official image of its upcoming 7-passenger SUV and also announced its name: the Borrego. Kia released a teaser shot of the Borrego earlier this year– which was Codenamed HM at the time — but this is the first clear view we've had at the new SUV.

Kia is keeping tight lipped about the Borrego's details but did reveal that it will use a body-on-frame construction. Kia also announced that its mid-sized SUV will come standard with a V6 and will have a V8 option — likely the Tau DOHC 32-valve V8 to be used in the upcoming Hyundai Genesis sedan — giving the Borrego the highest towing capacity in the Korean automaker's history.

The Borrego will make its world debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January with sales starting in mid-2008 as a 2009 model.

Official image

Teaser image

Source: Kia names upcoming SUV, reveals engine options

Sam Abuelsamid
Filed under: Biodiesel, Diesel, Chrysler, Dodge, Green Daily

Joe Jobe, the CEO of the National Biodiesel Board recently took advantage of Chrysler's new discount program for NBB members to buy a new Dodge Ram. Jobe was replacing an eight-year-old Ford F350 with the new clean diesel powered Dodge. The updated Cummins diesel in the Ram is already compliant with the 2010 Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards. Chrysler and the NBB are working together along with other companies on a national standard for B20 biodiesel so that car-makers can start officially supporting the fuel. Chrysler already endorses B5 and delivers all their new diesel vehicles filled with the five percent biofuel blend from the factory.

[Source: Chrysler Blog]

Source: National Biodiesel Board CEO loves the new Dodge Ram diesel

There must be something lost in translation. The English-language version of Korea's Maeil Business web site is reporting that Kia will introduce a "premium large-sized" SUV in the U.S. next June. It'll have either a V6 or V8 engine (which would be Kia's first). So far so good. Then they give the original name of the vehicle as "Mohave," which we can only guess is their phonetic spelling of "Mojave," the concept vehicle on which it's based. BUT… now Kia is changing the name from that to "Borrego," after "a desert situated in eastern San Diego, California." The reason for the name change? "Because the word 'Borrego' is more familiar to Americans than the original name 'Mohave.'" I wonder if they got that information from their design center in Irvine, California, which designed the Mojave Mohave Borrego. If so, their marketing mavens need to get their heads out of Southern California and get in touch with the rest of the country before making such an assumption. Just sayin'.

Maeil Business »

Source: The Mohaves and the Mohave-nots