The current generation Kia Sorento made its global debut in early 2020 and was then shown to North American audiences in September of that year. It went on sale in the United States for the 2022 model and while it’s generally still fresh on the market, it will be getting a refresh soon. Markets outside of North America will get a facelift first and we have the first spy photos taken on European soil.
What you see in the gallery below is a series of spy shots with a disguised prototype of what we believe will debut as Sorento 2024 in the United States. This test vehicle is clearly hidden with some fake body panels and lots of fabric disguises, but we know for sure it’s a South Korean SUV. We don’t know all the changes the camouflage hides, though there are hints on the heavily revised front.
19 Photo
The front fascia will get a pair of redesigned headlights and it appears the cluster will have a new layout that sits vertically compared to the horizontal lights on the current model. It’s too early to give generalizations but the new design could be inspired by Telluride, albeit with a few modifications. A new grille design also seems possible and there could be further adjustments to the underside of the front bumper.
At the rear, there is more camouflage but it looks like the Kia will remain unchanged. The rear light arrangement looks identical, although there may be adjustments to the internal graphics. The exhaust pipe you see on this prototype is temporary and the final production version will have either the pipe integrated into the bumper or the exhaust that is completely invisible.
It’s too early to talk about mechanical upgrades. The Sorento is currently sold in the United States with four engine options, including a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder that produces 191 horsepower (142 kilowatts). Above it is a turbocharged version of the engine that produces 281 hp (210 kW). There are two electrified models that use the 1.6-liter engine and produce 227 hp (169 kW) and 261 hp (195 kW) in the hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants, respectively.
