Updated Sorento to bolster Kia sales

Kia Australia is confident its updated Sorento – which goes on sale this week – can bolster model sales by as much as 10 per cent in what it says will be a record year for Australian new car sales.

The Sorento’s ‘product enhancement’ – Kia terminology for a midlife facelift – includes a significant upgrade of the seven-seat SUV’s safety, comfort, technology and driveability standards.

And despite an increase in list prices of up to $2000, the Korean manufacturer is convinced it will grow sales, even without drive-away pricing.

“When we launched Sorento our expectation was to try to get it to 500 sales per month … it hasn’t done that,” admitted Kia Australia CEO, Damien Meredith.

“We made a conscious decision that we wouldn’t go to drive-away pricing, and that’s carried the car particularly well. We think that with the enhancement and the pricing strategy, and added value, we’ll probably go up five to 10 per cent; so 420-440 [sales per month] is where we’d like to be.”

Year-on-year sales show the Sorento sales are up around 15 per cent on 2016 figures (see below), averaging 401 sales per calendar month. The number places the Sorento in step with Kia’s overall Australian portfolio, but well behind Toyota’s strong-selling Kluger, which has averaged 1015 sales per month this year.

“The third-generation Sorento has steadily grown its presence in the market place, and this midlife product enhancement will continue to do so,” added Kia Australia’s general manager of product planning, Roland Rivero.

“Our goal with this model is to cement our position in the top 10 among what is a red ocean of large SUVs, and to be a major consideration with buyers.”

Elsewhere, Kia passenger vehicles have moved the brand toward a record year. The brand is on target to sell 54,500 units in 2017, a year-on-year increase of almost 28 per cent, with all models bar the mid-sized Optima showing improvement.

“By model, that puts Carnival up about 20 per cent, Cerato up 50 per cent, and Picanto up about 148 per cent,” continued Meredith.

“Rio is slightly up, at five per cent, Rondo is up eight per cent, Sorento up 15 per cent, Soul is up dramatically since the price realignment that occurred in April this year [we estimate an increase of 255 per cent], and Sportage is up 30 per cent,” he said.

Meredith added that sales of the new Stinger were also set to average 200 per month, contributing to what he predicts will be another record year for Australian new car sales, estimating a total number of 1.19 million units.

2017 Kia sales to September:
>> Carnival – 4443 (up 19.4%)
>> Cerato – 14,671 (up 50.3%)
>> Optima – 603 (down 44.9%)
>> Picanto – 2499 (up 148.2%)
>> Rio – 5340 (up 4.3%)
>> Rondo – 173 (up 8.0%)
>> Soul – 231 (up 255.4%)
>> Sportage – 10,599 (up 29.5%)
>> Sorento – 3612 (up 15.5%)
>> Stinger – 22 (new model)