Seoul Motor Show: 2010 Kia Sorento crosses over for Korea debut

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Filed under: Crossovers/CUVs, Kia, Misc. Auto Shows

2010 Kia Sorento - Click above for high-res image gallery

After enough leaks to founder the Titanic, the 2010 Kia Sorento has finally made its debut at the Seoul Motor Show. The latest incarnation follows up on the company's original 2002 SUV, but Kia has seen the consumer light and ditched that vehicle's body-on-frame architecture in favor of unibody construction. In true CUV fashion, the new Sorento is at once lower and longer, seats up to seven people, and has a fresh new look thanks chief design officer Pete Schreyer's team.

The new model features a range of engines for Korea, at least one of which figures to be available stateside. The family consists of a 2.7-liter V6 that runs on LPG - liquefied petroleum gas - giving 163 horsepower and 115 pound-feet of torque, as well as a 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel (194 hp and 320 lb/ft) and a conventional 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine yielding 173 hp and 166 pound-feet, a variant of which figures to come to America, along with a more powerful V6 option. Kia will pair these engines with a range of five- and six-speed manual and automatic transmissions, depending on the market.

Interestingly, despite being more tarmac-centric, the new model will also include DBC, Kia-speak for Down-hill Brake Control, technology we know as hill-descent control. When activated, the hardware will limit vehicle speeds to a 5 mph crawl on steep descents. Conversely, the vehicle also has an anti-rollback measure for uphill starts called HAC, Hill-start Assist Control.

The company expects its new Sorento to "significantly increase [Kia's] share of the utility vehicle market," setting an ambitious global sales target for itself of 140,000 units from 2010 (the outgoing model sold 900,000 worldwide over seven years). It is not clear, however, if the CUV will be simultaneously be entering new markets in order to reach that goal. We'll keep our eyes out for more images and info, but in the meantime, click on the jump to read more in the official press release, and check out the high-res gallery below.

Gallery: 2010 Kia Sorento

Continue reading Seoul Motor Show: 2010 Kia Sorento crosses over for Korea debut

Seoul Motor Show: 2010 Kia Sorento crosses over for Korea debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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