The Telluride is becoming a fixture on the award podium this year, and today it added another one with a hybrid powertrain attached.
Kia announced today that the 2027 Telluride HEV X-Line SX-Prestige AWD was named Favorite Family Vehicle by the Midwest Automotive Media Association at its annual Fall Fest event. The win is the second time in 2026 that MAMA has handed the Telluride that specific honor. Earlier this year, the 2027 Telluride X-Pro took the same title at MAMA’s Spring Rally.
MAMA’s Fall Fest brings automotive journalists together to evaluate vehicles on public roads, with the awards determined by member votes. That the hybrid trim and the X-Pro off-road trim won at separate events is a small but telling detail: the Telluride’s breadth is what keeps winning over press fleets, not any single configuration.
The hybrid powertrain, introduced for the first time on this generation, has been pulling real weight in the showroom. Through September, hybrid trims accounted for more than 40% of total Telluride sales, with 45,155 hybrid units moved. For a nameplate that posted 123,281 total US sales in 2025, that electrified mix rate is a meaningful shift in how buyers are configuring their purchases.
The 2027 Telluride is a fully redesigned model, offering available three-row seating, an updated suite of driver assistance systems, and premium interior materials. The 2027 Telluride also earned the IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating this year, one of only 45 vehicles to qualify under the toughened rear-seat and crash-avoidance criteria. The safety credential and the family-vehicle award circuit are, in this case, pointing at the same buyer.
The competitive landscape around the Telluride has gotten more credentialed too. The Hyundai Palisade Hybrid took a WardsAuto 10 Best Engines award for its 329-hp turbocharged hybrid system, mechanical AWD, and 619-mile estimated range. The Toyota Grand Highlander Hybrid competes in the same space. Both are capable rivals, which makes the Telluride’s consistent showing across multiple press evaluations harder to dismiss as a soft field.
The Telluride has now collected the MAMA Favorite Family Vehicle award twice, the NEMPA Best Winter Family Utility Vehicle honor, and a sweep of two categories at the 2026 TAWA Truck Rodeo alongside the Seltos. That is a lot of hardware for a nameplate seven months into a generational redesign. Kia has not announced whether a plug-in hybrid variant will follow the standard HEV into the lineup.
At some point, the award count stops being a PR story and starts being a data point.
Source: Kia. Images courtesy of Kia.
