The sprawling highways of Rajasthan and the narrow lanes of its villages provided a perfect test bed for the newest three-row premium SUV to enter the Indian market. With prices starting at an aggressive Rs 27.99 lakh and topping out at Rs 40.39 lakh (ex-showroom) for the fully-loaded HTX(A) Black Line AWD 6-seater hybrid trim, the Kia Sorento makes a commanding pitch in the segment.
Design & cabin
Unlike the Toyota Fortuner’s aggressive, butch styling, the Sorento is an SUV for a well-travelled, sophisticated person — someone in a suit and polished shoes who values class over crude. Step inside, and it feels like a ‘Carnival-Lite’. The cabin makes rivals like the Fortuner and the Jeep Meridian feel Stone Age next to the Sorento’s Science Age design. It even out-gadgets higher-priced European SUVs like the Skoda Kodiaq and Volkswagen Tayron R-Line.
The top-end variants have everything: a dual-pane panoramic sunroof, digital IRVM, remote smart parking assist, a global-debut Kia AI assistant powered by real-time Generative AI, digital key 2.0, an expansive Level 2+ ADAS safety suite featuring 30 autonomous functions, a 220 V power outlet, and six Type-C USB ports. First- and second-row space is good, and features like rear-window sunshades and second-row ventilated seats make it a haven if you prefer being chauffeur-driven while taking a meeting on a laptop.
On the road
The 2.2-litre diesel (193 PS/442 Nm) paired with an 8-speed DCT is good on highways, and the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol hybrid (180 PS engine power plus 65 PS electric motor) is quick off the line with excellent roll-on acceleration. At speeds above 100 km/h, NVH levels are so good that making out whether it’s diesel or hybrid is difficult.
In dense traffic, however, you can easily make out the difference. The Sorento hybrid has a 1.49 kWh lithium-ion battery, much larger than the 0.6 kWh in lower-segment hybrids like the Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara or Toyota Hyryder, and this means the Sorento hybrid can be driven on electric power for a couple of kilometres at a stretch, unlike other hybrids that barely go a few hundred metres. This also means you can easily get a real-world fuel efficiency of more than 15 km/litre (my test car returned 20 km/litre in dense traffic even with AC on).
At speeds above 100 km/h, ride is planted, and it doesn’t ‘jump’ over sudden road undulations typical of the Fortuner or Meridian.
Where it falls short
Like most 6- and 7-seaters in this segment, getting to the third row is cumbersome, and the rearmost seats are for children or shorter adults. But the biggest flaw is that buyers looking for a fully-loaded trim are forced to buy AWD (as there is no FWD option in top trims), and if you drive mostly in the city, why pay for AWD that you won’t use at all?
In addition, while its ride manners are good, it cannot match European benchmarks like the Kodiaq or Tayron R-Line, as there is some body roll during sudden directional changes at highway speeds, and the steering feels very light on the highway compared to the precise feedback offered by the Europeans.
Verdict
The Sorento won’t take away buyers from the Fortuner – it will carve out its own niche. Where Hyundai struggled to establish a presence in the premium space over two decades (it failed with the Terracan, Sonata, Elantra, Tucson, and Santa Fe, and even the Ioniq 5 is struggling to sell), Kia’s elevated brand image gives the Sorento a good opportunity to secure the runner-up spot in this segment. While the diesel is punchy, my money goes to the hybrid: it is smooth, frugal in the city, feature-packed, and the only one in its class.
