Kia Sorento, HOW MUCH!!!

[I-S]

I would agree with that.

I think that the real strength of kia/hyundai is in cars like the C'ee''''ddd and i20, where they've taken a big slice of the market that cares most about value and reliability rather than perceived image, ride/cabin/comfort/etc.

The big losers out of this have been the japanese brands - The previous marketplace for the toyota corolla/auris has now been dominated by the c'eed. Mitsubishi have declined massively out of the car marketplace, toyota are a lot less prevalent than they were, nissan keep going by filling good niche cars (like the note and qashqow) and honda are in retreat (first the legend, now the accord... the civic is now the largest car (as opposed to SUV) they sell here).

I say this as a long time japanese car buyer - our V70 is my first non-japanese car. Unforunately the estate car is an area where the retreat begins, and there is no decent korean estate (the i40 has a horrible interior, and the 1.7 diesel has no power, yet similar economy figures to our polestar D5). Honda ruined the accord estate (the last gen accord estate was significantly smaller inside than the 2003 model we had, and considerably more expensive to buy. Honda thought that those two things combined were enough to take on BMW).

I agree that value brands trying to go upmarket becomes self defeating. That is why in the US all of the Japanese brands have their "High-end" brand: Toyota have Lexus, Nissan have Infiniti, Honda have Acura. There's also other brands that they create, like Toyota's Scion brand, aimed at teens and twentysomethings. The american car manufacturers have long engaged in this (Eg GM covered Chevrolet (the everyday working man's car), Pontiac (Sportier), Saturn (modern, european inspired (rebadged vauxhalls)), Oldsmobile (Manager's car), Buick (Old man's sofa. Now rebadged vauxhalls) and Cadillac (Luxury, high-end). They've now rationalised this somewhat, with pontiac, saturn and olds being defunct.

The koreans have not yet learned this. Most people here are unaware that in the USA, Hyundai offer not only the Sonata (i40), but three larger saloons, the Azera, Genesis and Equus - the latter coming with a 5 litre V8 and being aimed at the BMW 7 series (albeit $20000 cheaper).

As someone else already mentioned, VW struggle to sell the Phaeton here (although it does do rather well with some wood and leather wrapping as a Bentley). Can you imagine how a big Hyundai would go down?

However, I maintain that the sorento is a difficult to understand vehicle. If you're going to make a large soft-roader (eg XC90, X5, etc) then it should be good on the road, which the Sorento is not. If you're going to make a large vehicle like that poor on the road then it should have some serious chops off-road (eg Landcruiser, Shogun, Pathfinder). The Sorento does not.

I pay close attention to these vehicles - where my parents live there is regular serious flooding. The primary criteria for their main vehicle is to be able to carry 6 adults and have a wading depth of no less than 600mm. The only vehicles that fit that are the RR Sport, Discovery, Landcruiser, Landcruiser V8, Shogun and Pathfinder.

[tickedon]

Originally Posted by I-S

In February we had a Hyundai Santa Fe as a hire vehicle in Texas. This is the platform shared vehicle with the Kia Sorento.

It. Was. Awful.

It will have been tuned entirely differently for American tastes and roads, and different safety regulations require different engineering - so I wouldn't let your Texas trip inform your decision of a different car, albeit same platform, here.