The all-new 2021 Kia Sorento will
celebrate its world premiere at March’s Geneva Motor Show. Underpinning the
vehicle will be the South Korean carmaker’s new-generation midsize SUV platform
that should ensure the new “Sorento raises standards in its segment for
practicality, offering space on a par with larger vehicles,” the company notes
in a press release.
In addition to confirming the Sorento’s
unveiling in Geneva, a pair of teaser images of the new SUV have been released.
Unfortunately for Kia but luckily for us, spy photographers recently snapped
the Sorento free of any camouflage during a photoshoot in California so its
exterior design has already been seen in full.
It would be an understatement to say that
the 2021 Sorento looks radically different than the outgoing model. The
exterior design shares virtually no lineage with the current Sorento, not that
we’re complaining. Among the most notable changes at the front there’s Kia’s
latest tiger nose grille and a set of slim headlights with LED daytime running
lights. The front bumper is also particularly striking and includes many
angular lines.
At the rear, the radical redesign
continues with a set of split taillights and an edgy tailgate dominated by
sharp lines and abrupt edges. It looks very purposeful indeed and is a far cry
from the soft, curvy design of the outgoing model. Recently leaked images of
the SUV’s interior have revealed a large infotainment screen sitting atop the
dashboard, a digital gauge cluster, and an all-new center console complete with
a rotary shifter. It all looks rather nice. A number of petrol, diesel, and
hybrid Sorento variants will be offered. These could include at least one model
with the same turbocharged 2.5-liter engine as the Optima, delivering 286 hp
and 422 Nm of torque.