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All-new Kia Sorento unveiled

Kia has revealed the all-new Sorento; the fourth generation of the Korean manufacturer’s flagship SUV. Featuring more space, connectivity and new all-wheel-drive technology, Kia says the new Sorento will raise the standard in the popular mid-sized SUV market.

Apr 24, 2020

The bold new look to the Sorento is the result of a collaborative design effort between Kia’s worldwide design network. The new exterior design incorporates elements showcased in other global models, including the US-market Kia Telluride which recently won the coveted World Car of the Year award.

On sale in the Northern Hemisphere later this year, the new Kia Sorento will prove a popular player in the New Zealand new car market, where it shares the stage with Kia’s other SUVs, the Sportage, Seltos and Niro. 

Raising standards in the midsize SUV class for space, efficiency, and quality, the forthcoming Sorento sits at the heart of Kia’s reinvigorated global SUV line-up. 

The new Sorento is the first Kia to be based on the carmaker’s new-generation mid-size SUV platform. Paired with a larger body to maximise cargo and luggage space, the platform ensure the Sorento is one of the most versatile and spacious three-row SUVs on the road. The new underpinnings also futureproof the Sorento, ensuring it can accommodate hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains as well. 

Kia’s new ‘Smartstream’ electrified powertrains – the first time that hybrid power has featured in the Sorento line-up will be offered in some markets. As a result, the new model offers greater fuel efficiency, lower emissions, and higher performance than its predecessors. 

The Sorento’s redefined exterior design, incorporating sharper lines, high-tech details, and elongated proportionsgives it a more confident and mature presence. Inside, its attractive cabin also introduces premium-quality materials, cutting-edge infotainment technologies, and a stunning new design. 

This will be Kia’s most high-tech car ever, thanks to its progressive connectivity, driver assistance and infotainment technologies. Its user-friendly twin digital displays deliver advanced graphics, new telematics features and smartphone connectivity. 

A mainstay of Kia’s global line-up, more than three million Sorento models have been sold worldwide since it was launched in 2002. 

“The Sorento’s evolution over the last 18 years echoes that of the Kia brand as a whole. While the car was initially launched in 2002 as a utilitarian all-terrain vehicle, the fourth generation Sorento has been transformed into something altogether more desirable,” says Emilio Herrera, Chief Operating Officer for Kia Motors Europe. 

Kia’s designers sought to maintain the robust, tough-looking aesthetic of earlier generations of Sorento, while applying a greater degree of refinement and elegance, and even a sense of sportiness. The new SUV’s bodywork incorporates sharp lines and creases – noticeably more sculpted than its more round-edged predecessor.  

The front of the Sorento evolves with a new interpretation of Kia’s hallmark ‘tiger nose’ grille, displaying a wider shape which organically wraps around the integrated headlamps on each side.  

In profile, the proportions of the Sorento are subtly adapted to make it appear longer. The new model is 10mm longer than its predecessor (now 4,810mm), yet it features shorter front and rear overhangs. The additional length is found in the wheelbase (a result of the Sorento’s new platform), which has grown by 35mm to 2,815mm. At 1,900mm wide, the new model is 10mm wider than the third generation Sorento. 

The interior of the fourth generation Sorento represents a step-change in quality and design for Kia cabins. From the first-generation 2002 Kia Sorento, which provided occupants with a practical, robust and utilitarian space, the Sorento today provides owners with something altogether more striking, desirable and comfortable. 

The intuitive, tech-oriented cabin in the new Sorento is fitted with premium-quality materials and cutting-edge infotainment. At the same time, it retains the spaciousness and versatility that has characterised the Sorento over its 18-year existence. 

The attractive, upscale cabin introduces a sophisticated next-generation design, based around twin digital displays in the dashboard. The 12.3-inch digital driver instrument cluster is twinned with a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment and navigation system at the centre of the dashboard. These display information clearly within the driver’s line of sight and create an innovative wide-screen user experience. 

A wireless smartphone charger sits at the base of the centre console, while a powerful BOSE surround-sound system is also available to provide a more immersive in-car audio experience. 

The Sorento Hybrid’s battery pack is located under the floor of the cabin. As a result, even this iteration of the new SUV offers generous space for up to seven passengers as well as one of the largest luggage capacities in its class, depending on specification. This means the car can accommodate five people in comfort, and a significant amount of luggage.  

For passengers, the new platform maximises space in all three rows, offering more head-, leg- and shoulder-room than many rivals. In particular, the new platform has created a significant amount of extra legroom for first- and second-row occupants, as well as more headroom for third-row passengers. 

The Sorento is the most high-tech Kia car ever made, thanks to a suite of technologies that enhance safety, connectivity and infotainment. The range of available features are designed to make travelling safer and less stressful while providing total ease of use. 

Depending on specification, the cabin incorporates Kia’s latest 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system, offering audio-visual navigation, and a new 12.3-inch high-resolution digital instrument cluster. Combined, the two twin digital displays deliver information to the driver with absolute clarity. An 8.0-inch display audio system is also available as standard, while all infotainment systems enable full, seamless smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

The infotainment system also allows Bluetooth smartphone pairing for two phones concurrently, enabling separate phones to be used for, for instance, phone calls and music, while front passengers can also plug in their mobile devices via two USB chargers.  

Big leaps forward have been achieved in terms of the new Sorento’s ride and handling. The first-generation Sorento (2002-2009) was based on a ladder-frame chassis, with the second-generation model (2009-2015) – the first monocoque-based Sorento – marking a step change in the car’s on-road behaviour. Now, the all-new platform represents a similar push ahead and is engineered to maximise driving stability in all environments. 

The car delivers an even more assured, comfortable ride and more satisfying, enjoyable driving character than its predecessor, aided by heavily revised fully independent suspension. Engineers have sought to reduce the effect that road surface imperfections have on the body, and to reduce noise and vibrations through the suspension, while also improving body control and steering responses under cornering. This has been achieved with a series of geometry changes and new components, as well as improvements to the structure of the suspension system. The 35mm longer wheelbase also contributes to an overall improvement in cruising comfort, while the new bodyshell also results in lower body vibrations. 

New for the fourth generation, the latest Sorento model also offers enhanced all-terrain capability over its forebears thanks to a new Terrain Mode. Paired with the optional all-wheel drive system, Terrain Mode makes the Sorento more capable in mud, snow and sand. With each mode selectable from a dial on the centre console, Terrain Mode carefully controls the car’s standard electronic stability control (ESC), as well as the distribution of torque to all four wheels. It also adapts transmission shift times to help the car find and maintain traction in a range of driving environments. 

Needless to say, the Sorento offers a high level of active and passive safety thanks to an enhanced range of driver assistance systems. Kia’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) help to reduce many of the inherent hazards and stresses of driving, protecting occupants and other road users on every journey. 

Depending on specification, the ADAS range in the new Sorento includes Kia’s latest Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) technology with pedestrian, cyclist and vehicle detection. This also detects oncoming traffic when making a turn at a junction. The Sorento is also available with Blind-Spot View Monitor (BVM), Surround View Monitor (SVM) and Blind-spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA), Intelligent Speed Limit Assist (ISLA), Smart Cruise Control with Stop&Go (SCC) and Navigation-based SCC (NSCC), Lane Following Assist (LFA), Driver Attention Warning (DAW), and Highway Driving Assist (HDA).