First Look: 2009 Kia Borrego

Note: All photos with the exception of the one at left are of the Korean-market variant called the Kia Mohave

We're getting small and green and moving away from big, body-on-frame V-8 sport/utilities to more compact crossovers. So it's with a good deal of trepidation that Kia enters the segment late this summer with its first V-8 model for North America, a body-on-frame, seven-passenger sport/utility called the Borrego.

It's the same V-8 lurking under the hood of Hyundai's new Genesis, a 4.6-liter engine expected to make about 375 horses. That's a healthy number for this brand. Kia says it'll bring the new Hyundai V-8 here first, though given what Hyundai says about the Genesis's on-sale date, it looks like a dead-heat. And therein lies the issue: timing. When Kia began developing the Borrego some four years ago, gas was under $2 per gallon and automakers were still touting the sustainability of the big truck boom. Kia was working on the Borrego about the same time that Toyota was developing its all-new, bigger-than-ever Sequoia.

Here's the good news for Kia. While it didn't have dimensions initially, the Borrego is significantly smaller than the Sequoia. The South Korean company's largest-ever model for the U.S. looks to be closer in size to the V-6-only Highlander, with a reasonably roomy third row. And the Borrego also will be available with a V-6, probably the 242-horsepower, 3.3-liter that powers the Sorento. A year after the Borrego's summer launch, Kia will add a new "clean-diesel" six to the lineup. It can't come quickly enough. It's the type of engine that could save this segment.

Kia says the Borrego's platform is unique, although it's not unlike a stretched Sorento's body-on-frame, also featuring an independent rear suspension. Kia says we should expect the Borrego to be nearly as good off-road as the Sorento and exceptional on-road refinement, as well. The Borrego will use the same all-wheel-drive systems as the Sorento -- standard electronically switched part-time with a low range or optional Torque-On-Demand full-time with a low range.

Transmissions are a six-speed automatic with the V-8, five-speed automatic with the V-6. The Borrego ups the towing ante, from the Sorento's 5000-pound max to 7500 pounds with the V-8.

Outside, the Borrego appears to be a boxier, more conservative Sorento, with twin hood bulges and a Nissanesque tail. It's handsome in an anonymous, safe way. Inside is proof that Kia and sister company Hyundai are spending lots of money and quickly refining interior quality. The perforated leather seats aren't nearly as soft as those of, say, a Mercedes, but they're good enough to be compared with popularly priced Japanese brands or perhaps Chevrolet and Saturn. Switchgear looks and feels of quality and panel fit and parting lines are tight.

Expect two trim levels, probably LX and EX, when the Borrego hits showrooms in late July or August. Base price should be in the mid-$20s, but a top-trim model with navigation system, backup camera, and the V-8 will easily breach $30,000. As in the rest of the 2009 Kia line that launches shortly after, Sirius satellite radio is standard.

Meanwhile, Kia's on-again, off-again plans for a pickup based on the Borrego's platform are, as we speak, off again. It's all a question of timing.