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NEWS
SPY PICS: Kia Sorento for 2015
Wheelbase stretch and hybrid variant for next-gen SorentoSorento... it's a name to recall the warm, sunny days and light on-shore breezes of an Italian beachside resort – sort of.
It's not the kind of name associated with the bone-chilling, finger-numbing iciness of a Scandinavian winter – such as the spy snappers at Automedia are enduring as they track Kia's large SUV through the snow.
The lead car in these pictures (followed by a camouflaged Hyundai ix25) is the next generation of Kia's Sorento. According to the hypothermic photographers, the new Sorento will ride on a longer wheelbase than the current model, which is intriguing.
The current model, though it resembles a facelift of the original (monocoque) Sorento, was actually an altogether new model on its release in Australia, back in late 2012. Automedia has been careful to avoid suggesting this is either another new model or a facelift. Depending on the extent of the wheelbase stretch, the new Sorento may be merely an upgrade of the current car.
But if it is, it's a major facelift. The K900-style grille is prominent, even masked by the car's camouflage, and while the glasshouse looks largely unaltered, there's plenty of cladding to conceal the D pillars and the swage line along the car's flanks.
For the argument against a facelift, there's the pre-production car's roof, which clearly reveals pressed-in-metal longitudinal sculpture lines missing from the current car's roof. It's unlikely even Kia would go to the trouble of developing a new pressing for the roof of a car that is otherwise an update of a current model.
Longer overall, the 2015 Sorento should be more spacious inside, and the Automedia blokes hear tell that the new model will carry over existing engines – albeit upgraded, perhaps, for power and torque. A hybrid variant will be available from global launch, although that seems unlikely to reach Australia.
– with Automedia
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