The popular Kia Sorento has been in short supply of late, but the brand’s product planning boss says the company is anticipating better access through to the end of 2022.
“We anticipate overall supply for Sorento – excluding HEV and PHEV – will be good for the next couple of months to see through the remainder of 2022,” said Roland Rivero, general manager for product planning at Kia Australia.
“For Sorento specifically, the semiconductor issue seems to be improving, from which Australia is reaping the benefits. At this stage though, it’s difficult to forecast what the precise supply situation will be in 2023.”
Kia Australia registered 646 units of the Sorento during October 2022, up 37.4 per cent on the same month last year and up 21.7 per cent year to date (5574 units).
3.5 MPi
That puts it ahead of both the Hyundai Santa Fe (3583 units) and Palisade (3420 units), as well as the Mazda CX-8 (4905 units). It’s also not far behind the Mazda CX-9 (5916 units), but a long shot away from the Toyota Kluger (10,989 units).
Interestingly, the Sorento hasn’t proven to be as popular as its Carnival people mover stablemate, which has returned 6853 units to the end of October (up 38.3 per cent) despite V6 versions being essentially unavailable to order.
Mr Rivero added that the Sorento is currently not in the same boat as the Carnival when it comes to supply of versions with the 3.5-litre MPi V6 petrol engine, largely due to the fact the 2.2-litre CRDi turbo-diesel is the overwhelming favourite with Australian customers due to its standard inclusion of all-wheel drive (AWD). The Carnival doesn’t offer AWD in Australia.
Those wanting a petrol-fed Sorento with AWD need to stump for either the Hybrid (HEV) or Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) models, though these powertrains are limited to the high-end GT-Line grade only and are also in heavily constrained supply. Kia has previously told us it receives around 20 HEVs and 10 PHEVs per month.
Sorento GT-Line HEV
The Sorento is, just one piece of Kia’s success story in 2022. With 66,580 sales across its line-up to the end of October, Kia is currently tracking third overall in the manufacturer’s sales race behind Toyota and Mazda, now well ahead of its Hyundai global parent (63,392 units, 5th overall).
In June, local operating chief Damien Meredith said he expects the brand to set an all-time Australian sales record in excess of 72,000 units for the 2022 calendar year.
Key drivers of Kia’s growth this year include the new Sportage (15,497 units YTD, up 141.1 per cent), the Stonic (7582 units YTD, up 21.5 per cent) and the aforementioned Carnival (6853 units YTD, up 38.3 per cent).
Volume drivers on top of the above honourable mentions include the steady-selling Cerato (11,558 units YTD, down 28.6 per cent), as well as the soon-to-be updated Seltos (7803 units YTD, up 5.2 per cent).
MORE: Everything Kia Sorento
