Having witnessed the debut of Hyundai’s wildly redesigned 2024 Santa Fe, we were ready for big changes to the mechanically related Sorento. Granted, Kia’s midsize SUV is only going through a midcycle update, so the styling modifications were never going to be as drastic. The facelift does bring some substantial visual revisions to a vehicle that was still feeling fresh considering the fourth-gen model was unveiled a little over three years ago.
The first 2024 Sorento official images show Kia has completely reworked the front fascia to accommodate T-shaped headlights with an upper daytime running light strip flanking the Kia logo. By the way, the badge no longer sits on the grille as it has been repositioned at the bottom of the hood. The grille has a new look, as does the lower air intake – still hosting separate fog lights. The vertical air curtains seem slightly larger now, and we also notice a silver skid plate.
With this only being a mid-cycle update, the Sorento retains the side profile, but with freshly designed alloy wheels. At the back, discreetly revised taillights have new graphics and meet at the front rather than being separated units as was the case on the pre-facelifted model. It would appear Kia has moved the reverse lights even lower, beneath the silver skid plate.
While the interior looks instantly familiar, there are changes to the dashboard. For example, the chunky vertical air vents in the center are gone, replaced with much slimmer vents to make room for the enlarged touchscreen of the infotainment system. The South Korean brand also modernized the climate controls by getting rid of the old-school display, which has been replaced with capacitive buttons akin to the EV6 and Sportage. There’s also a fingerprint authentication system carried over from other models from the Hyundai Motor Group, and new interior colors: Interstellar Grey, Volcanic S, Brown, and Cityscape Green.
In typical Hyundai/Kia/Genesis fashion, this is only a design reveal as technical specifications will be disclosed in mid-August.
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