Kia Sorento (2015): the first glimpse of third-gen SUV

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

29 July 2014 09:52

This is the new, third-generation Kia Sorento coming in 2015 – and it’s set to get a dose of the style bestowed upon its Sportage little sister.

Only this pair of shadowy teaser photographs has been issued ahead of the new Sorento’s debut in Korea at the end of August.

But this is a global car and will be shown at the 2014 Paris motor show too in October, ahead of UK sales in spring 2015. The most striking change is the adoption of Kia’s distinctive ‘tiger snout’ nose, which was penned by the design teams in Korea, Germany and the US.

The Koreans are keeping their lips sealed about the new Sorento for now. This is the third generation of Sorento, the boxiest of Kia’s SUVs.

It’s the only seven-seat crossover sold by Kia and starts at £25,000 in the UK today. We expect the price to stay around the same area for the new 2015 Sorento.

The Sorento’s popularity has been its mini-Discovery-on-a-budget vibe. All models offer four-wheel drive, alloy wheels, seven seats, dual climate control, Bluetooth and cruise control.

Today’s model has a single engine on offer: a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel, developing 194bhp and 311lb ft of torque. It’s good for 118mph and 0-62mph in 9.5sec.

Expect a significant jump on the more important green figures, however. Today’s Kia Sorento 2.2 CRDi 4wd averages 41.5mpg on the combined cycle and between 155-178g/km of CO2, depending on spec and wheel size.

Judging by these first images, we’d say the next Sorento is about to scramble onto the choice list of more buyers who would have ignored its boxy, functional predecessor. Just look at the success of the slinkier Kia Sportage to understand the thought process of most crossover buyers…

By Tim Pollard