2024 Kia Sorento revealed

On sale Summer 2024 | Price from £46,000 (est)

Sometimes the changes made to a facelifted car over its predecessor are as thin as the gravy in a roadside cafe, while at other times, you’d need a magnifying glass to tell that the updated car and its forebear were related at all. The updated Kia Sorento falls into the latter camp, because it’s been treated to an all-new look inside and out.

In fact, the new Sorento’s large front grille, razor-thin LED headlights and chrome detailing bring it into line with Kia’s flagship electric SUV, the EV9. The Sorento also gets rufty tufty cladding around its lower edges to emphasise its go-anywhere nature, as well as a light-up Kia badge which means that, even at night, fellow drivers will be able to tell what you’re driving. That gives the Sorento a feature that none of its closest rivals, including the closely related Hyundai Santa Fe or the premium Land Rover Discovery Sport can match.

It’s all change inside the Sorento, too, with a new 12.3in digital instrument cluster sitting alongside a 12.3in infotainment touchscreen, housed within a single panel. We like the setup in the current Sorento, finding it quick to respond to our inputs and having menus which are easy to navigate. If you’d prefer to use your phone’s apps instead, then wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay connectivity will be included as standard on most trim levels.

New features include the ability to lock or unlock your car using your smartphone, and sharing that digital key with family and friends via text message.

As with today’s car, the new Sorento will offer seating for up to seven, with each row getting USB-C charging ports to ensure your devices stay topped up. We’re not expecting to see any big changes in terms of how spacious the new Sorento is, or how much it can hold in its boot, but that’s no problem – the current car is already one of the best in the business in both regards. 

Elsewhere, the Sorento’s suite of driver assistance and safety kit has been updated to include more advanced Automatic Emergency Braking which can recognise pedestrians or cyclists in front of you, as well as smart adaptive cruise control which learns your acceleration and braking habits and can mimic them.

While the new Sorento’s engine options are still under wraps, we know that it will continue to be offered as a hybrid and as a plug-in hybrid, with the latter able to take you for at least 35 miles on electric power alone. There will also be a diesel option for high-mileage drivers. In the current Sorento, it’s the regular hybrid which we think makes the most sense – it combines a 1.6-litre petrol engine with an electric motor for peppy performance and respectable running costs.

Prices are expected to start from around £46,000 for the diesel-engined Sorento. That’s less than you’d pay for a seven-seat Discovery Sport or Peugeot 5008, but more than for the Hyundai Santa Fe, which is our reigning seven-seater champion.

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