Kia Sorento R (2nd-gen Sorento)

The global financial crisis seeks bad news to the world's greatest automobile manufacturers, but it seeks good news for Korean automobile manufacturers to get themselves ahead to become the number one automobile manufacturer in the world, and so does Kia Motors for doing it during these hard times. As for this week's Seoul Motor Show, the Korean manufacturer will unveil the "World Class Premium" crossover which is even better than before, the Kia Sorento. Redesigned, refreshed, revamped and ready to be the top of the line medium sized crossover in the world, including the Philippines, the all new Kia Sorento has all the features only a conservative person might get. By making the new Sorento a "World Prestige Class" crossover, the front side is equipped with the trademark Peter Schreyer H-Grille (found in the facelifted Optima, Soul, Forte and other models equipping this grille soon), giving it a true-blue Kia look to this crossover utility vehicle. As for the side, that does still looks like the new Lexus RX (formerly known as the Toyota Harrier) as from the previous generation but the mainframe is shared from two Hyundai SUVs, the Santa Fe and the Veracruz. And finally, the rear side is somewhat mistaken for the Kia Mohave (or Borrego to other markets) except it's shrunken down to medium SUV size, giving it a sophisticated look of a luxury crossover.

Now that the exterior details are told, time for the new Sorento to show everyone its new engine so fuel efficient, that no other crossover can achieve its fuel saving performance. The new Kia Sorento is equipped with a 2.7-litre LPI engine, a 2.4-litre gasoline engine and the new 200ps, 2.2-litre CRDI-VGT R-engine (a new breed of diesel engine made for Hyundais and Kias) that boasts the perfect fuel economy of only 14.1km/L! That is right folks, 14.1km/L! That is enough fuel economy to last longer for some globetrotting excitement for everyone who deserves a diesel engine!

For convenience, the Sorento replaces the traditional "insert key-start engine" system into an engine start/stop push button for easy starting this car, a smart key system allows the driver to open or close the Sorento with the push of a remote car key buttons, cruise control, a host of audio systems, and for the fun of it, panoramic moon roof (similar to the Nissan Teana) for the view to the top no other.



WHY DO YOU CALL THIS A WORLD CLASS PREMIUM?

To tell you the strong expression for this crossover, consider yourself if you were the professor of some prestigious universities like De La Salle or Ateneo, a head coach of your favorite basketball team like NBA's Chicago Bulls, a famous news writer of some famous Filipino newspaper such as the New York Times or Philippine Daily Inquirer, a great newscaster from some of the world's greatest TV networks like ABC, CBS, NBC, especially ABS-CBN or GMA, an honorable businessperson, a fashion designer whose design shaped the world with fashion, a composer to the world's greatest philharmonic orchestras, a MVP of your favorite sports, an astronaut from NASA, a world famous mangaka, a world famous dancer, a director who wanted to create world famous film, a veteran lawyer, or a famous actor/actress who won the Academy Awards. This is how people who deserved the "World Class" title claim themselves to be the "World Class" people of today. With the new Kia Sorento, the title "World Class" might be yours for the taking! If other people saw you drive the new Sorento, people might say, "if whoever claims it must have mattered it" someday.