The Hyundai Palisade and Kia Telluride are both fantastic SUVs that did wonders for their respective brands. As to which you should buy used to be as easy as going to the dealership closest to your home, but both cars are entirely new this year. The Palisade reaches our shores first, while we only got to spend time in the Telluride recently.How do these all-new models stack up against each other? The Matchup 23959-2027-telluride-hev-x-line-front-quarterRight off the bat, the main differences between the two lay under the hood. The base engine in the Palisade is a 3.5-liter V6 producing 287 horsepower and 260 lb-ft. of torque, compared to the Telluride’s 2.5-liter turbo-4 making 274 horsepower and 311 lb-ft. of torque. Both offer identical dual-motor 2.4-liter turbo hybrid powertrains as well, making for an even more interesting comparo between the two since it all comes down to which can deliver the best value.The first generation of each sold in droves. Besides containing the same power plant, both returned steady sales figures without one cannibalizing the other. The Telluride earned the nickname of “Selluride” because of how quickly they fly off dealer lots in the US. Just last year, Kia beat out Hyundai by a margin of 9266 units, selling 123,281 Tellurides compared to Hyundai’s 114,015 Palisades. We expect this margin to remain close, but it’s still too early to tell who will come out on top. Loading the Bases KiaEntry-points into both models are the Telluride LX and Palisade SE, starting at $39,190 and $39,435 respectively. Kia offers only three colors; Panthera Metal comes as standard but Ebony Black and Glacial White Pearl are an extra $495 each. Hyundai makes available four colors free of charge: Pacific Saphire, Abyss Black, Galaxy Maroon, and Ecotronic Gray, with Creamy White costing an additional $500. It’s your choice of black or gray cloth/leatherette in the Palisade. Black is the only option in the Telluride. Second-row bench seats are available in both, but only on the base trims.Hyundai No additional packages are available on either model for any trim, but AWD can be added for $2,000 on either. Hyundai offers the option on every trim of the Palisade, but Kia doesn’t offer it on the base Telluride LX. You can equip a towing package on any Telluride for $625 (not offered on the Palisade) and adds an OEM tow hitch but nothing else. Both SUVs, however, are rated to two up to 5,000 lbs. each. You'll notice throughout this article there's an emphasis on colors and interiors. This is due to the lack of packages to add any extra value to the vehicle other than numerous available accessories. Best Averages 2026 Hyundai PalisadeRight smack in the middle of each’s lineup are the Palisade SEL Premium at $45,300 and Telluride X-Line EX at $47,290. Here’s where we see how the Kia leans into more off-road styling and the Palisade looking at home on the boulevard. Looks are subjective, so we’ll leave that up to you. Hyundai does offer one trim of the Palisade, the XRT Pro, which is clad in extra plastic to shield it from the pebbly trails it’s all-terrain tires could potentially touch.Kia wins for offering one extra paint option, making nine colors available on the X-Line EX over Hyundai’s eight for the SEL Premium. Only two of those colors are free of charge, though: Panthera Metal and Midnight Lake Blue. Everything else is the same upcharge as before, with two matte options costing $995 each. With the Palisade, all the colors from above are available, along with Cast Iron Brown and Titan Green, both free of charge.Inside, it’s the same story. Black or gray leatherette in the Hyundai and black in the Kia. Both offer 12.3-inch center infotainment throughout all trims, and a slew of comparable safety features. The Big Leagues 23921-2027-telluride-x-pro-front-quarterOnly in their peak forms is where we see the two split into their respective sides of the ring. The Telluride X-Pro Prestige wants to play rough and rugged, whereas the Palisade Calligraphy enjoys staying out of the dirt as much as possible. The Kia loses one color option as the Hyundai gains one, tipping the scales on the paint options. Inside the Palisade Calligraphy are three different colors of Nappa leather, black, gray, or brown. Inside the Telluride X-Pro Prestige, the status quo remains endures as it’s black leatherette again with the addition of a suede headliner.The main highlights of the two are as follows: Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy: $54,560 Bose 14 speaker sound system Third-row heated seats Nappa Leather 21-inch alloy wheels Kia Telluride X-Pro Prestige: $56,790 Meridian 14 speaker sound system Off-road camera system 18-in alloy wheels with all-terrain tires 9.1 inches of ground clearance Both SUVs are more the same than different. It takes a keen researcher to scour each’s website to compare the facts, but both look and feel significantly different inside. The darker tones of the Telluride are quickly countered by its greenhouse, inviting copious amounts of light into the cabin and making it feel less cavernous. The Palisade’s cockpit and lighter interior colors across each trim help to make it a homier atmosphere from the get-go compared to the Telluride.What’s frustrating about the Telluride is that additional interior colors are only partial when offered and only available on trims that don’t have the “X” prefix. If you’re into the Telluride’s urban-crawler motif both inside and out, it’s definitely one of the coolest in the business, but compared to the old Telluride, it’s a bit too brash. The Palisade is far tamer and isn’t quick to offend, which puts it in better standing to outsell its cousin this time around. The Winner Is... HyundaiIt's too early to call a winner, but the Palisade wins on paper for now. We've only driven the two cars apart, and we'll need to spend more time in each to make a verdict on who wins.Hyundai offers more options to personalize your Palisade by way of paints and interior colors. And we especially like that you can configure AWD on the base model. It’s more inviting interior makes it better suited to deliver on what a crossover promises to do best, which is haul people comfortably.The Kia can do that just fine, but its off-road aspirations are no match for the Hyundai’s comfortable, road-tripping reality. This comes as no surprise given that we named the Palisade the best family car for 2026, but the 2027 Telluride (which took a hiatus for the 2026 model year) is putting up a strong enough fight to warrant some nail-biting from the Palisade.Sources: Hyundai, Kia