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Kia’s overhauled Sorento is a consumer favorite

Kia Motors’ new Sorento SUV was the most popular vehicle introduced in the second half of this year in the Korean market, the nation’s leading used car dealer SK Encar said.

The company said on Friday that when it asked 237 randomly selected customers in a survey conducted in November to pick the best car in the second half, 100 - or 42.2 percent of the respondents - picked the SUV.

Second place was taken by Hyundai Motor’s Aslan (with 34.6 percent), followed by the Chevrolet Aveo (15.6 percent) and Renault Samsung New SM7 Nova (7.6 percent).

“The new Sorento, a fully remade model that Kia developed and introduced five years and four months after its predecessor, the Sorento R, caught consumers’ attention with its design, performance and safety options,” SK Encar said.

SK said consumers liked the Sorento’s large interior, able to fit a lot of outdoor recreational equipment, and were also satisfied with its safety options, including a forward collision warning system.

Regarding Hyundai’s Aslan sedan, consumers said they like the vehicle’s quiet driving performance and good ride. Its elegant design also caught their eyes. The vehicle’s front-wheel drive system, which isn’t offered in most large sedans, was also favored by consumers, SK said.

Chevrolet’s Aveo sedan was favored by manual gear-shift lovers.

Among imported cars, Audi’s new large sized A8 sedan was favored most by Korean consumers with 44.3 percent, or 105 of 237 respondents picking it. It was followed by BMW’s new SUV X4 (11.8 percent), Mercedes-Benz’s new GLA Class (11 percent), Toyota’s new Camry (7.2 percent) and the Peugeot 2008 (5.9 percent).

“Consumers said the A8 exactly shows what a premium large size sedan should have,” said SK Encar. “As with the Aslan, most consumers fell in love with A8’s riding quality and driving performance. They also said they like Audi’s Quattro system offered with four-wheel drive, which improved the vehicle’s safety. BMW’s X4 and Benz’s new GLA Class reflect that SUVs are still popular options for Korean consumers.”

Consumers said they feel comfortable driving the X4 on slippery roads as it offers full-time four-wheel drive.

“Among Korean cars, many SUV models attracted consumers while large sedans caught consumers’ eyes among imports in the second half,” said Choi Hyun-seok, the marketing director of SK Encar.

BY KWON SANG-SOO [sakwon80@joongang.co.kr]