WHILE IT’S STILL some way off, Kia Motors Corporation has revealed the first official images of the new Kia Sorento today, ahead of its first public appearance at the 2020 Geneva International Motor Show.
In keeping with the company’s increasing confidence in its design, 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.
More stylish than ever, the Sorento’s redefined design incorporates sharper lines and uninterrupted surfaces, making it noticeably more sculpted than its more round-edged predecessor.
The more assertive ‘face’ of the Sorento evolves, too, with a new interpretation of Kia’s hallmark ‘tiger nose’ grille. Wider and more expansive, it wraps organically around the integrated headlamps on each side. The headlamps themselves feature a new ‘tiger eye’ LED daytime running light, adding extra focus to the design by depicting the intense impression of the lines around a tiger’s eyes.
In profile, the proportions of the Sorento are subtly adapted to make it appear longer, with shorter front and rear overhangs and a longer wheelbase. Its new proportions also extend the length of the bonnet, drawing the A-pillar 30mm further back from the front axle for a more ‘cab-rearward’ design. The trailing edge of the hood wraps around the front wings and turns into a single, strong character line which extends along the side of the Sorento and flows into the new vertical tail lights.
Inside, the attractive, upscale cabin of the new Kia Sorento introduces a sophisticated new design, incorporating cutting-edge infotainment, greater practicality, and premium-grade materials. One of the highest quality interior spaces found in any Kia to-date, the intuitive, tech-oriented cabin of the new Sorento retains the spaciousness and three-row versatility that has characterised the Sorento over its 18-year existence. Yet it now provides owners with something altogether more striking, desirable and comfortable.
The cabin introduces a sophisticated next-generation design. Blending metallic trims, leather upholstery and embossed wood-effect surfaces, the interior also subtly integrates other technologies to enhance connectivity, driver assistance and infotainment.
The Sorento will come with a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system incorporating an audio-visual navigation. It will also come with a new 12.3-inch high-resolution digital instrument cluster that provides crystal-clear information to the driver. The progressive technologies available in the new model make it the most high-tech vehicle Kia has ever created.
The Sorento sits at the heart of Kia’s reinvigorated global SUV line-up, which also includes the Seltos, Stonic, Sportage, and Telluride. The new model is the result of a collaborative effort between all three studios within Kia’s global design network, in Korea, Europe and North America. The next-generation model is based on an all-new platform, raising standards in the midsize SUV segment for space, practicality, efficiency and quality.
The new Sorento will make its debut on March 3, 2020.