Kia does not build many cars like the Kia Kue: a 3-door SUV with 4.6L 400 hp V8, built from 2007 in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids.
The background
The Kia Kue was a concept crossover SUV introduced during the 2007 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It was similar in design to the Hyundai Santa Fe platform, and it may also share the same platform used by the Hyundai Santa Fe and Veracruz in that it, like the Santa Fe, it was designed as a crossover SUV. The concept vehicle seated five passengers. The Kia Kue was the first car to win a Design Award for a Korean company. This concept was awarded with "Eyes on Design Award" for Design Excellence at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show.
The Kue was designed, in part, was to distinguish itself from Hyundai's cars, according to then-US president of Kia Motors, Len Hunt. It only had only two doors, which open scissor style to allow access to all 4 seats. The concept car also boasted a 400-hp, 4.6-liter V8 engine. The Kue concept eventually went into production as the second-generation Kia Sorento, the first Kia model manufactured in the United States. Some styling cues of the Kue were also used in the third-generation Kia Sportage
The engineering
Under the skin sits 4.6L 400 hp V8. The gearbox is a 5-speed automatic. The layout matters: drive goes to all four wheels, which is what lets the power be used on a wet road. The wheelbase is 114.2 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Volkswagen Tiguan, the Nissan GT-R, the Hyundai i30. Its Kia stablemates include the Kia K5 (Optima) and the Kia Magentis.