Kia shows first pickup concept

10 February 2004: Kia Motors have shown their first ever pickup, in concept form, at the Chicago Auto Show.

The Mojave, designed for the North American market, is not slated for production, however, as Kia has no suitable production facilities for the vehicle.

A key design feature is the Mojave’s ability to stretch its rear bed into the passenger cabin at the touch of a button. After manually raising the rear glass and folding down the rear seats, the power-operated rear wall quickly slides forward to extend the bed from 71 inches to 86 inches in length - enough room to fit a 4x8 sheet of plywood. The extended bed position also provides built-in protection from forward-sliding cargo due to the design of the folded rear seat back.

At 130 inches, the Mojave’s wheelbase is considerably longer than the Kia Sorento platform on which it is based. The concept has a 3.8-liter, DOHC 24-valve V6 putting out an estimated 280 horsepower, coupled with a 5-speed electronically-controlled automatic transmission.

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