Kia will make a midsize sports utility vehicle similar to the Hyundai Santa Fe made in Montgomery when its plant in west Georgia is finished in 2009. The Korean automaker made the announcement about the Sorento model Tuesday at its annual dealers meeting in Las Vegas, according to spokesman Alex Fedorak.
The engine for the Sorento will be made at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama.The 2010 Sorento will be the only vehicle manufactured at the plant when it opens.
Kia will have a production capacity of 300,000 vehicles annually, allowing it to produce at least one more model but Fedorak said a second model would not be added until after the plant goes through the break-in process. [Source: Montgomery Advertiser]
November 7th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
That sucks about the stupid “Santa Fe” restyling. Yes they may be one company, but they are seperate entities. Kia shouldn’t make all of their vehicles to look like hyundai. It’s like making two cans of soup from one batch, and you put a generic label on one, and a brand name on the other. The only difference between Kia’s and Hyundais now is the “label” and Hyundais are more expensive, and more”bubbly” in appearance.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
The article says similar vehicle and not the same with a different badge! The exterior and interior will be totally different than the one in Santa Fe, so don’t worry!
Looks like next generation Sorrento will not be BOF (built on frame) vehicle but more crossover like vehicle. So it might share the platform and engines with Santa fe. But that’s all!
As far as differences between Kia and Hyundai, I can not agree with you. Those two companies are trying hard to differentiate their vehicles. They adopted decision to make Hyundai vehicles more comfort and luxourious and inspire sportier feel to Kias, last year. So you can expect more aggressive design on future Kias and more elegant on Hyundais!
November 8th, 2007 at 4:22 am
It’s nice to hear about 2nd generation Sorento. I hate it is leaving the BOF though.
November 8th, 2007 at 4:30 am
Yeah, I’ve driven an SUV without and the Sorento with BOF, and BOF is WAY better. The Torque on Demand(R) is really nice too. Can’t wait to test drive the Borrego with that V8 and 6 speed tranny.
November 11th, 2007 at 1:41 am
thats such a shame as i know countless people who bought the sorento because of its BOF construction to go off roading. it is a really capable off roader and if it is going to share platforms wiht the santa fe, Hyundai/Kia has made a huge mistake.
im not a really mechanical guy, but couldnt they just shorten the Borrego/Mohave/HM’s BOF platform like Hyundai shortened the BH’s platform for the BK? it’ll sell way better than if its a boring soft roader crossover type suv. i mean, how many santa fes do you see off road compared to sorrentos? none? thought so…
November 11th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
BOF vehicles do offer better all-terrain drive, but I think most of the SUV vehicle buyers never go off-road. Therefore I don’t see any reason why not transform a Sorento BOF SUV to a crossover! This is the trend now and crossovers are getting more popular than Body On Frame SUVs.
If people will want that kind of vehicle they will have a cahnce to buy a Borrego, otherwise they will buy a Sorento crossover.
And the new Sorento is for sure not going to be a boring vehicle. Expect something more sporty and aggresive, than Borrego, simillar to Kue concept car!
And by the way, Hyundai Santa Fe is sellin great around the world!
November 12th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
I thought Kue was going toward the Nissan Murado while Sorento was going for Nissan Xterra?
If Sorento is the Kue then what was the point making the Borrego’s front to look like KCD-2. They had me thinking that that design was how their future bof SUVs were going to look like.
I do want the Kue to come out for production, I just want it to be its own model not the Sorento.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:41 am
I know what you mean. But I predict that Sorento will become more of a Murano type of vehicle (sporty crossover) and Borrego will replace a Sorento as a BOF SUV in Kia’s line-up.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
there’s time for Kia to think about what they have to do. Indeed, BoF is a good way to keep out noises and nothing too much has been told about the new Sorento so you never know. Borrego is also a good off-roader, so if Sorento does lose its BoF there’s still another option altough there would be a price prob. But I really doubt that Kia will remove the thing (BoF) that made sorento stand out.
November 14th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
The perfect story woul be this: Make next Sorento also a BOF vehicle and introduce the Kue crossover to compete against Nissan Murano and Lexus.
November 14th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Perfect! I’ll tell Pete, he would appreciate that kind of forward thinking! Note from Len Hunt:
“I am hearing a rumor about the 2009 Sorento and possibly Amanti available with a V8 also! Probably not likely, but it would be nice! Personally, I think that they have plenty of power with the V6. Either way would still be nice.”
November 14th, 2007 at 10:32 pm
I heard next gen. Amanti will be more like Mercedes CLS (4door coupe-sedan). And might be RWD vehicle!
But thos are only guessings and rumours!
November 15th, 2007 at 12:24 am
Same thing I was told! With V8 as an option!
March 28th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
We have a 2005 Sorento EX 4×4. We have looked at replacing it every year with a newer model, but they don’t address what we find lacking. Instead all we hear about is styling. We love the styling on our EX. Although we rarely off-road we like the security of knowing we can without any worries.
We don’t want the styling changed… we love the look. Here are the areas that need to be addressed:
1) Front brake rotors are too small and warp regularly.
More comfortable seats.
2) Fuel economy is BAD… go to a multi-fuel hybrid electric… solar panel on roof and dash to charge batteries.
– Turbo, Injected, Diesel, Unleaded, E85 power generator optimized for economy
– Power 4 wheel electric motors (2 wheel with 2 wheel drive)
– Lithium polymer batteries
3) Transmission that uses standard transmission fluids.
4) Maximum rating for Govt AND Insurance safety ratings.
5) Scratch/ding protection that does NOT change the styling.
6) Reliability better than any other vehicle.
7) TCO below all other vehicles.
9) Driver position / settings memories.
10) Removable SSD/HDD storage for MP3 playback.
11) Pre-wired for HAM/Amateur radio
12) Dual- batteries
Forget the skin change… just eliminate all current customer problems.
#1 Safety
#2 Maintenance Free
#3 Reliability
#4 Fuel economy
#5 TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)
March 29th, 2009 at 12:05 am
The 2005 Sorento’s engine is a dinosaur. Even the bigger 3.8 gets better gas mileage. Why don’t you trade for a 2008? 5 star safety rated in all for categories, “Good” rating for rear impact collisions, and many less mechanical problems, thanks to the new engine.