Kia's Sorento SUV is set to receive a host of significant improvements when the new upgraded model goes on sale later in 2012.

Changes include a re-engineered bodyshell, enhanced powertrains for better fuel economy with lower emissions, improved ride, handling and refinement, additional convenience and safety features, plus a fresh, new look for the exterior.

"Since its introduction in 2009, the second-generation Kia Sorento has achieved more than 620 000 sales around the world. Today, it is manufactured in Korea and the USA, attracting over 130 000 US customers last year to rank as the best-selling Kia model in the States for the second year in a row," commented Thomas Oh, Kia's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the International Business Division.  

"We have given very careful attention to owners' feedback, and the upgraded Sorento is not just a cosmetic exercise but a major step forward for our popular SUV."

Kia's designers have created new headlamps with LED positioning lights, a new tailgate with LED rear combination lamps, new front and rear bumpers with vertical-axis foglights and a larger area of body-color surface, and an expanded choice of wheels to include larger diameter 19-inch alloys, depending on market.

Inside the five- or seven-seater cabin, there are more soft-touch surfaces, plus a new LCD instrument cluster, new centre stack with seven-inch display screen, and a new console featuring a straight-gate selector with a leather-booted lever on automatic transmission models. Offered in black or beige cloth or leather, the interior can be bathed in natural light through a larger panoramic sunroof with no centre cross beam and a powered blind.