GSBot

Sometimes it's hard to remember what you did just yesterday, but think back to 2003 when Kia first introduced the Sorento mid-size SUV. At the time, the market was dominated by body-on-frame vehicles with real honest-to-goodness four-wheel-drive systems and rugged part-time transfer cases. The times, they are a changin'. Releasing a brand-new body-on-frame SUV into the marketplace these days, regardless of how good it may be - see Kia Borrego - is like bringing a sledgehammer to a knife fight.

Kia was able to hit the mark back in 2003 with its full-frame Sorento on account of clever marketing and a very attractive base price. That's just not good enough any longer. The Sport Utility Vehicle has officially handed the reigns over to the Crossover, and Kia was left without a player in this newly-defined and ridiculously popular segment. Until now, that is. There will be no 2010 Sorento. As if to mark the death of the old vehicle and its rebirth into something completely different, Kia decided to completely skip the 2010 model year, and we're expecting good things from the 2011 Sorento after having been suitably impressed by Kia's two most recent vehicle launches, the Soul and Forte.

By now you've likely seen pictures of the new Sorento, and it looks good. But it takes much more than a pretty face to win over legions of CUV buyers with so many credible options to choose from. So, the big question is whether or not Kia has hit the mid-size crossover target square in the center with the latest version of its shapely 'ute, or if this particular arrow falls short of its intended trajectory. Keep reading to find out where the Sorento lands.


Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Kia Sorento



Photos copyright (C)2009 Jeremy Korzeniewski / Weblogs, Inc.Continue reading First Drive: 2011 Kia Sorento finally crosses over

First Drive: 2011 Kia Sorento finally crosses over originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.