Updated 2024 Kia Sorento priced from £42k

► View all Kia Sorento reviews
► Mid-life facelift for popular seven-seat SUV
► Fresh styling and updated tech
► Base-model price reduced by £3000

It’s mid-life facelift time for the Kia Sorento, the Korean brand’s popular seven-seat SUV. And it’s not the usual blink-and-you’ll-miss-it job but, more importantly, the price of entry has dropped by £3030.

The entire front end of the 2024 Sorento is brand new, with styling aping that of the big Kia EV9 electric SUV. The most noticeable changes are the vertically stacked headlights and much bigger grille; more subtle are the flatter bonnet and reshaped front bumper. Black sill and wheelarch trim, daytime running lights with ‘star map’ pattern and new wheel designs finish things off.

Inside, the centre section of the dashboard is redesigned with a logical, linear layout for the climate controls. On top sits 24.6 inches of curved display screen, split into two 12.3-inch halves – one for the driver’s display, one for the infotainment system.

At a time when most other manufacturers are abandoning diesel, the 2024 Sorento is available with a 192hp 2.2 CRDI engine hooked up to an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Its presence in the range points to the Sorento’s continued popularity with caravanners, thanks to its 2500kg towing capacity.

Two hybrids are also available: a 215hp self-charger and a 252hp plug-in hybrid. Both have a 1.6 T-GDi petrol engine and a seven-speed automatic gearbox. All models come with all-wheel-drive.

Kia has yet to release performance and economy figures for the 2024 Sorento: we’ll likely find out what they are when we have the opportunity to review the car.

For the trim levels, Kia has reverted back to its old numbering system: the 2024 Sorento is available in 2, 3 and 4 guise. As you’d expect, the higher the number, the more kit you get. The base model isn’t exactly lacking for standard features; the top-spec version is positively lavish.

Prices start at £41,995 for the Sorento 2 2.2 CRDI – that’s a £3,000 saving on the cost of the previous base model. The self-charging hybrid costs a grand more than the diesel version of every trim level, while the plug-in hybrid adds £5300 to the price. Prices top