Yes and Kia could have picked any of those front end styles for the Tasman pickup but instead went with the most excruciatingly awful fronts you will ever see. Buyers are running away from the sight of it.
The reason they were less expensive to maintain was they didn't change and the mechanics knew the ins and outs of keeping them running. If your supporting the same vehicle for almost 20 years, you should know the ins and out of how it is supposed to run.
Big news with potentially purpose-altering implications for BOC:
Now that BOC Tennessee will not have battery construction on site, does that create the possibility of that plant being designated for production of something other than EVs?
Of course, cop cars get their fair share of abuse, and require care and feeding. However, all of the LEOs I spoke to universally said body on frame Crown Vic PI that were common at their agencies 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 years ago were more durable and less expensive to maintain and repair compared to some of the unibody garbage they have now (Explorer PI, Charger Pursuit, Durango Pursuit).
Bargersville PD added Tesla Model 3 and Model Y to its fleet starting in 2019. They now have the most Tesla cop cars of any local PD in the Midwest, maybe the whole country. The Bargersville police chief said the Teslas have been pretty good in terms of repair, maintenance, and operating costs.
Besides gas savings, the Bargersville PD never had to replace the brakes on their Teslas, an operation that would cost between $1,200 and $1,500 on combustion vehicles. No other repairs or parts replacements were necessary, making the Teslas the best cars in the department's fleet. Low maintenance means the vehicles are always available, which is another big advantage.
That applies to any Uniformed service-the one running joke with the miliary is you can leave a couple privates in the middle of the desert with a bowling ball and an anvil for a couple hours and both of them would be destroyed by them!
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/business/2025/12/11/ford-sk-on-battery-joint-venture-tennessee/87714597007/
https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10634880#:~:text=In September%2C SK On received,generation EVs under existing agreements.
So reading inbetween the lines, it looks like Ford wants to make its own batteries (maybe because it has its own tech it wants to use?) and with the expected shrinkage in EV sales, they thought this would be the better route?