The updated Kia Sorento will continue to offer four powertrain options in Australia when it arrives during the fourth quarter of 2023, and be offered exclusively as a seven seater.
Kia Australia has confirmed preliminary details for the facelifted range, which was quietly revealed by the brand’s Korean head office following an online leak of the refreshed SUV’s design.
So, that means Australia will continue to receive an entry-level 200kW/332Nm 3.5 V6 FWD petrol, a 148kW/440Nm 2.2-litre AWD turbo-diesel, a 169kW/350Nm 1.6-litre turbo petrol hybrid with FWD and AWD options, as well as a flagship 195kW/350Nm 1.6-litre turbo petrol plug-in hybrid AWD.
It’s unclear whether Kia Australia will bring in updated versions of these powertrains, given our market gets Euro 5 units instead of the cleaner Euro 6 iterations offered abroad, but it’s expected the former will carry over.
Overseas model shown
Kia’s local arm has confirmed with CarExpert the new Sorento will offer a new ‘Panoramic Curved Display’ with dual 12.3-inch displays incorporated into the same housing, debuting Kia Connect for the Sorento in Australia as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for navigation-equipped models.
The confirmation of wireless smartphone mirroring indicates updated Sorento models in Australia will also be running the company’s latest ccNC infotainment interface, which will debut in Australia with the all-electric EV9, and support wireless over-the-air (OTA) software updates.
At this stage, it’s unconfirmed whether Kia Australia will bring in any of the three new exterior paint options – Interstellar Grey, Cityscape Green and Volcanic Sand Brown – or additional interior colour choices such as the light brown colourway pictured above.
It seems set in stone, however, that Australia will continue to miss out on the available six-seat interior with second-row captain’s chairs, as well as the 2.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine offered in Korea in place of the V6.
Kia Australia’s confirmation of four carryover powertrains suggests orders for the Sorento Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid will reopen by the end of the year, despite currently being off sale due to crippled supply.
Late last year, Kia’s local arm confirmed order books for the electrified Sorento variants had closed to high global demand. The Sorento Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid are built in the same factory for Australia as they are for European and North American models, regions with stricter emissions laws and incentive schemes for electrified vehicles.
Prior to the announcement, the Sorento Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid were maxing out at around 20 units and 10 units per month in Australia respectively, which the brand’s local product boss Roland Rivero described as “tokenism at best“.
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