Today I attended the launch of the all-new Kia Sorento in Barberstown Castle, Co. Kildare. This year is Kia’s tenth year in Ireland and since then they have secured themselves in a good position within the Irish market. February 2015 showed them as being the ninth-biggest seller, holding a 4.3% market share according to SIMI statistics. James Brooks, Managing Director of Kia Ireland, told us that the Sorento is what secured a place in the Irish market for them. 25% of cars they sold before the Irish economy went downhill were Sorento models. He reckons that this SUV was the less expensive alternative to the Toyota Land Cruiser and this is why it was so successful for them.
When the economy crashed the car market took a nose dive, and one of the categories that suffered most was this one. Nobody wanted to buy what they perceived as gas guzzlers – especially after our tax system changed to a CO2 based one. The new Sorento has landed here at a good time. A lot is changing. Car sales in the country have been rising steadily. Consumers, who are more cautious than ever, are starting to regain confidence. They’re beginning to spend on things they were frightened to look at over the last few years. SUVs still guzzle more fuel than smaller cars, but in comparison to pre-2008 models we are certainly looking at more efficient machines.
The new Sorento is one such SUV that has become that bit more economical – certainly in terms of CO2 emissions and road tax. We’re told that emissions from the 2.2 litre Euro 6 engine have dropped from 155 to 149 g/CO2 per km for the manual transmission. To tax, consumers will be looking at €390 per annum at today’s rates. “On-paper” combined fuel economy figures of this vehicle are 5.7 litres per 100km.
Kia have been eyeing Hyundai as the benchmark in this category with the Santa Fe – a car I haven’t test driven for some time, but looking at their sales since January the Santa Fe is clearly appealing to many customers (407 units according to statistics from www.beepbeep.ie).
All engines are 2.2 litre turbocharged diesel (197hp and a 0-100km/h figure of 9 seconds) and there will be an option of automatic and manual.
Trims available are the 5 seater EX which costs from €38,995 and the Platinum trim with 7 seats where prices start from €43,995 (also available will be a Platinum automatic version which will cost from €49,500). What make this trim platinum are the extras that are available with it. Platinum comes with extras like; Seven seats, panoramic sunroof ,Xenon lights , leather and heated (front and 2nd row rear ) seats, heated steering wheel and 8 way power adjustable driver’s seat .
Today I took the 7 seater for a quick spin from Straffan to Kilcock and there are a few things that I can comfortably talk about. Firstly, seats 6 and 7 offer very good space. The new Sorento is 4,780 mm long which means it is 95mm longer than the outgoing model, it’s wider to and higher too. I have just finished a test drive with the Nissan X-Trail 7 seater and space to the rear is perfect for kids but not so good for adults, the Sorento offers much better space. Another thing I like about this machine is the front cabin, it’s well laid out and the dash is very nicely presented.
As of yet I haven’t had a full test drive of this car, but I’m booked in for one soon and I will be able to have a more in-depth look at how the car drives. So far my thoughts on the car are positive. I posted pictures on Twitter from the launch earlier today and asked people what they thought about how it looked – the reaction was mixed. What do you think?
