Kia Sorento: one step closer to electric EV9

Hyundai recently helped the Santa Fe to a completely new generation and now the cousin Kia Sorento is where the Koreans let the brush of innovation pass. Where the Santa Fe was actually renewed down to the smallest nipple, the Sorento gets a thorough facelift. That is not surprising, the current fourth generation Sorento has only been around for about three and a half years.

The Kia Sorento before the facelift. (2020 – 2023)

You can recognize the renewed Kia Sorento immediately at the front. It looks completely different from that of the pre-facelift model. The SUV is in a way acquainted with the so-called star folderlighting and that brings the Sorento optically a little closer to the younger and fully electric EV9. A piece of Opposites United design for the Sorento. The horizontally oriented headlights of the original have been replaced by vertical ones that are placed lower in the front. Above it we find flat elements in which the LED daytime running lights are incorporated. The grille between the headlights has grown a considerable size and the Kia logo – now the new one – moves from the grille to the bonnet. That hood is also completely new, something that we don’t see very often with a facelift. Lower in the front, Kia places a new bumper, just like at the bottom of the rear.

The interior of the Kia Sorento before the facelift (2020 – 2023)

Speaking of the rear: less changes there, but there are certainly a few things. The taillights largely retain their shape, but the vertical sections are now fused together at the top. The layout of the rear lights is new and here too we see Kia’s star folderlight signature back, although it has been incorporated in the largely old light units. Kia now also pats its new logo at the rear, although it is in the same place as before. Kia is also introducing three new exterior colors and three new interior colours.

There is also news in the Sorento. There we find an almost completely new dashboard. The shape of the outer vents of the ventilation system still link to that of the pre-facelift version, but the rest of the cockpit – minus the center tunnel – is completely overhauled. Behind the steering wheel are now two optically fused displays without a roof. The two 12.3-inch screens are new and the control island with which you control the climate control is also new.

This renewed Kia Sorento has only been presented in its home country of South Korea for the time being. We assume that the refreshed Sorento will eventually also come to the Netherlands, although it cannot be ruled out that this version differs in detail from this version for the home market.