"The Mojave represents a great opportunity for Kia to continue to affirm our commitment to the North American market," said Peter Butterfield, president and CEO of Kia Motors America. "We continue to invest heavily in the U.S. and around the world to support the steady expansion of sales and market share for Kia globally, and we hope that by showcasing designs like the Mojave more people will become aware of, and interested in, the Kia brand."
 |
| The Mojave is built on the same platform as the Sedona and Sorento, so the chances of it coming to market are high. (Photo: Kia Canada) |
Being based on the Sedona and Sorento the possibility of it coming to market is considerable, being that a new platform is not needed and profits could potentially be high.
Kia would need to expand its current factory or build an additional production facility first, so that it could keep up with capacity mind you. And partial-parent (40 percent) Hyundai's new Alabama facility is out of the question, being unsuitable for pickup production.
 |
| "The Mojave is an outstanding example of what Kia is capable of delivering," stated KMA CEO Peter Butterfield. (Photo: Kia Canada) |
"The idea behind the Mojave project was to take advantage of Kia's research and development resources and create a concept vehicle that is closely aligned with Kia's positioning in North America," commented Butterfield. "Despite the fact that we do not currently have a factory with the capacity, or the location, to manufacture this truck, the Mojave is an outstanding example of what Kia is capable of delivering, and will allow us to conduct consumer research at the Chicago International Auto Show to gauge consumers' reactions."
On the same subject Butterfield added, "In order to make it economically feasible because of the tax laws, we would need to build it in North America... We'd have to build a plant or find a plant to build these things."