You don’t need to worry about the basic taillights on the production model.
The Nurburgring houses many European and Asian brands, as well as some Asian ones. Kia is a regular visitor to the Nordschleife, where it also has Eurocentric models such as the Ceed. It’s not a derivative of a Ceed-based model. However, the new Sorento will be sold on the Old Continent, where SUVs are highly in demand.
The prototype was the same one our spy cameras captured earlier in the month. Now we have a spy footage showing the 2021 Sorento at work. The midsize SUV, like many other test vehicles at the Green Hell was being pushed hard. There was even a roll cage behind its front seats. The camouflage conceals the production body and final headlights. However, the low-quality taillights indicate that they will be replaced with something more sophisticated when the car is ready for production.
The third-generation Sorento was launched in August 2014. It received the usual mid-cycle refresh in 2018. This likely means that the fourth-generation model will be available on the market in 2020 or 2021. It looks like the design will be a bit more sleek than the current model and that something is happening with the C-pillar.
Although it’s too soon to know how the three-row SUV will be designed, it appears that it won’t look as rugged and boxy as the larger Telluride. There could be some changes inside, considering the fact that the Sorento’s current facelift is starting to show its age compared with new products such as the K900 flagship sedan or the Telluride. The SUV’s interior should be refreshed with a fully digital instrument cluster, a larger infotainment system and new switchgear.
We are as confident as you in powertrains. However, it is possible to speculate that Kia wants to electrify its next-gen Sorento due to the increasing popularity of hybridization as we move to EVs.
The wraps will be removed sometime next year. We will wait to see additional spy photos with more disguised prototypes in the interim to see more production metal.