What Is It?
Kia KCV4 Mojave
What's Special About It?
"Mojave" is the name Kia has given its latest concept vehicle, and it's a midsize pickup truck based on a stretched version of the Sorento SUV platform. An extended cab, the Mojave is designed for light-duty hauling by active 20-somethings whose surfboards and snowboards can't be contained by economy sedans and sport wagons.
Like other extended-cab pickups, the Mojave has reverse-opening rear doors to provide access to its rear seats. And like the Chevrolet Avalanche, it has an expandable bed design. When hypothetical owners need maximum dimensions, they need only raise the rear glass, drop the rear seats into the floor and slide the lower portion of the rear wall forward. So done, bed length goes from 71 inches to 86 inches. To ease the unloading process, the tailgate drops down flush with the bed floor, leaving no gap between the two. Storage compartments in the bed provide a safe place for smaller items.
Interior styling takes cues from an aircraft cockpit. The center stack is shaped like a fuselage, and the gear selector resembles a jetfighter's throttle. Large instrumentation pods would presumably put all relevant information right in front of the driver. Bleached tan leather upholstery and liberal use of brushed metal accents deliver luxury in an austere manner.
Suspension bits are pulled from the Sorento, suggesting that the Mojave would be capable of performing a range of on- and off-road duties. Additionally, the pickup's rack-and-pinion steering was designed to be compatible with a hydraulically controlled rear steering system (along the lines of GM's Quadrasteer) that would provide extra help during parking maneuvers and extra stability when driving in heavy crosswinds. For power, the Mojave uses a 3.8-liter DOHC V6 that Kia executives described as "force-fed," meaning that it's either turbocharged or supercharged. Output is rated at approximately 280 horsepower.
What's Edmunds' Take?
The Mojave concept is impractical in the sense that the company has no place to build it in the U.S.; producing it in South Korea would be problematic given the high American tariff on imported pickups. However, the fact that Kia gave this concept a real name, rather than leaving it with the internal KCV4 designation, suggests a certain amount of commitment to it. Indeed the company plans to gauge public reaction to the pickup during the auto show, and if there is sufficient interest, Kia executives say they will find a way to build it. — Erin Riches
Kia KCV4 Mojave
What's Special About It?
"Mojave" is the name Kia has given its latest concept vehicle, and it's a midsize pickup truck based on a stretched version of the Sorento SUV platform. An extended cab, the Mojave is designed for light-duty hauling by active 20-somethings whose surfboards and snowboards can't be contained by economy sedans and sport wagons.
Like other extended-cab pickups, the Mojave has reverse-opening rear doors to provide access to its rear seats. And like the Chevrolet Avalanche, it has an expandable bed design. When hypothetical owners need maximum dimensions, they need only raise the rear glass, drop the rear seats into the floor and slide the lower portion of the rear wall forward. So done, bed length goes from 71 inches to 86 inches. To ease the unloading process, the tailgate drops down flush with the bed floor, leaving no gap between the two. Storage compartments in the bed provide a safe place for smaller items.
Interior styling takes cues from an aircraft cockpit. The center stack is shaped like a fuselage, and the gear selector resembles a jetfighter's throttle. Large instrumentation pods would presumably put all relevant information right in front of the driver. Bleached tan leather upholstery and liberal use of brushed metal accents deliver luxury in an austere manner.
Suspension bits are pulled from the Sorento, suggesting that the Mojave would be capable of performing a range of on- and off-road duties. Additionally, the pickup's rack-and-pinion steering was designed to be compatible with a hydraulically controlled rear steering system (along the lines of GM's Quadrasteer) that would provide extra help during parking maneuvers and extra stability when driving in heavy crosswinds. For power, the Mojave uses a 3.8-liter DOHC V6 that Kia executives described as "force-fed," meaning that it's either turbocharged or supercharged. Output is rated at approximately 280 horsepower.
What's Edmunds' Take?
The Mojave concept is impractical in the sense that the company has no place to build it in the U.S.; producing it in South Korea would be problematic given the high American tariff on imported pickups. However, the fact that Kia gave this concept a real name, rather than leaving it with the internal KCV4 designation, suggests a certain amount of commitment to it. Indeed the company plans to gauge public reaction to the pickup during the auto show, and if there is sufficient interest, Kia executives say they will find a way to build it. — Erin Riches
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