Kia Sorento Review: Is Bigger Always Better?

Kia has built a strong reputation in India in a relatively short span of time. From the Seltos to the Sonet and now the Syros, the company has understood what Indian buyers want and, more importantly, how they want it packaged. And their newest offering, the Sorento, arrives at a time when SUVs are more popular than ever, and buyers are increasingly willing to look beyond the usual choices. Globally, the Sorento is one of Kia's most important SUVs and has been a strong seller in several international markets. In India, though, it has a slightly different challenge. It needs to establish itself as a premium three-row SUV while also convincing buyers that it offers something more than simply a larger version of Kia's existing models. Does it manage to do that? Let’s find out.

Exterior:

The Sorento is a large SUV, even if its design doesn't immediately make it look like one. It measures 4,816 mm in length, 1,900 mm in width and 1,720 mm in height, with a 2,814 mm wheelbase. It is slightly bigger than the German pair – the Skoda Kodiaq and Volkswagen Tiguan and has a bigger wheelbase than the Fortuner too.

Dimensions aside, its styling is unmistakably Kia. The face, lighting elements and overall design language make it easy to identify as a modern-day Kia. But that familiarity works both ways. It gives the Sorento a cohesive identity with the rest of the Kia range, but it also means the SUV doesn't have the visual drama you might expect from a car positioned higher up the range.

There is, however, a certain European influence to the way it looks. The proportions are neat, the stance is confident and the overall design has a sense of maturity. It looks expensive without trying too hard to look expensive, and that works in its favour.

Interior:

The biggest surprise inside the Sorento is not how good the cabin is, but how familiar it feels. Kia has done an excellent job with its interiors across its range. Spend time in a Seltos or even a Syros and you quickly realise that Kia has figured out how to make a cabin feel modern, well-built and feature-rich without making it complicated. The Sorento follows the same formula.

The dashboard gets a clean, horizontal layout, a large dual-screen setup and a rotary drive selector on the centre console. The materials feel upmarket, the controls are well laid out, and the fit and finish are exactly what you would expect and no less. There is also a neat switchable control panel that lets you use the same set of controls for the air-conditioning or infotainment functions. It is a clever solution, although Kia already offers similar functionality on some of its smaller cars, so it doesn't feel particularly special in the Sorento.

The equipment list is long, as expected. There is also connected technology with live generative AI, designed to make voice interaction feel more conversational rather than simply responding to a fixed list of commands. But the bigger question is what happens when you move to the second and third rows.

Adding captain seats to the second row was a good move as it offers you ample space, comfort and command sitting behind here. It has good space to go all around, and the seats are ventilated and offer good support for long distances. It's further helped by a large sunroof and window area. Being a third row of under 5-m SUV, it might not be cavernous, but it still has decent headroom and just enough space to not feel claustrophobic. Has separate fan speed controller, Type-C ports and space for knick-knacks at the back.

Powertrain and Performance

The Sorento comes with two interesting powertrain choices: a diesel and a strong hybrid. The hybrid uses a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with electric motor assistance and, importantly, is the version that gets all-wheel drive. That gives the Sorento a rather unusual combination for the Indian market — three rows, a strong-hybrid powertrain and AWD. The Toyota Innova Hycross has already shown that there is a market for electrified three-row family cars, and the Sorento takes that idea a step further with all-wheel drive.

On the move, the hybrid is quiet and smooth, particularly when it can use electric power. It doesn't feel like a compromise either. There is enough performance to make it feel properly usable rather than like a large SUV that has been asked to prioritise efficiency at the expense of everything else. The question is how it will perform with all three rows occupied, passengers on board and luggage filling up the boot.

The diesel, meanwhile, is the more familiar choice. We have seen it in Carnival, and it has plenty of torque, the automatic gearbox keeps things effortless and the Sorento doesn't feel like it is trying too hard. That relaxed character suits a large family SUV particularly well. For buyers who regularly travel long distances, carry passengers and luggage and simply want a powertrain that feels familiar, the diesel makes a lot of sense. It gives the Sorento the effortless character you expect from a big SUV without making the driving experience unnecessarily complicated.

Ride and Handling

The Sorento has a distinctly European approach to its road manners. The ride is on the firmer side, but it isn't uncomfortable. On good roads, the SUV feels taut and composed, while broken surfaces make that firmness more noticeable. But there is an important distinction between a stiff ride and an uncomfortable one. The Sorento doesn't constantly remind you about the road underneath it. It settles down well at speed and remains composed, which becomes more important when you are spending several hours on the highway. It also feels controlled for something of this size. There is no sense that the Sorento is trying to disguise its dimensions, but neither does it feel cumbersome.

Conclusion

The Sorento arrives in India at an interesting time for Kia. The company has already built a strong portfolio, and its smaller SUVs are now very good at doing exactly what buyers expect from them. And that creates the Sorento's biggest problem. The Sorento in itself is fabulous. The cabin is well executed, the space is useful, the feature list is strong and the choice of a diesel or strong hybrid gives buyers two very different ways of approaching a large family SUV. But sit inside a Seltos or even a Syros, and the Sorento doesn't suddenly feel like a completely different Kia. It feels like a bigger, more spacious and more sophisticated version of the same formula.

And perhaps that is the point. The Sorento isn't trying to reinvent Kia. It is trying to take everything the brand has learnt from its smaller cars and stretch it into a larger, more premium package.

The other challenge will be perception. Kia has established itself in India as a mass-market manufacturer, albeit one that has consistently delivered well-engineered and feature-rich cars. The Sorento now has to convince buyers that Kia can also play higher up the SUV ladder.

And that brings us back to the original question. The Sorento is a very good large family SUV. It has the space, technology, comfort and powertrain choices to make a strong case for itself. But the real challenge for Kia will be making buyers feel that they are buying something genuinely more special, rather than simply buying a much bigger Kia. For a brand whose smaller cars have become this good, that is actually quite a nice problem to have.

Pictures by Arvind Salhan