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ATLANTA – We came here to chronicle two pieces of significant news. The first was the introduction of the all new Kia Sorento utility vehicle. And the second was to get a look at Kia’s first American assembly plant in West Point which is about 85 miles southwest from here.
 Kia has completely changed the Sorento from a truck based sport-utility vehicle into a car based crossover-utility vehicle. In a phrase the difference is that truck based means body on frame construction while car based is unibody construction.
A car based utility vehicle, in general, is lighter, quieter, handles better and is more fuel efficient than a comparable truck based counterpart. The truck based sport-utility is more rugged, particularly in terms of off road driving. The point is that not that many people do any real off road driving which is a lot more than driving on gravel or dirt roads.
That’s why crossover sales are increasing rapidly and sport-utilities are in decline. And that, in a nutshell, is why Kia switched the Sorento to a growing market rather than leave it in a segment in severe decline.
The basics are that the 2011 Sorento can be equipped with either a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that makes172 horsepower and 166 foot-pounds of torque or a 3.5-liter V6 that makes 273 horsepower and 247 foot-pounds of torque. Either engine can be mated with a six-speed automatic transmission. The four-cylinder can also be equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox.
 Front-wheel-drive is standard but all-wheel-drive is an option. The 2011 Sorento will send power to just the front wheels in AWD configuration but the system is capable of sending up to 50 percent of the engine’s power to the rear wheels when needed.
It is longer, lower and sleeker than the vehicle it replaces. On the drive to West Point, I found the four-cylinder 2011 Sorento relatively quiet. it was also responsive and was easy to drive. It did lack a little oomph under hard acceleration but that was only one of two quibbles.
My other quibble was the optional third row seat didn’t appear capable of carrying two full size adults. However, Kia officials said the third row seats were for those sporadic occasions when an owner might be in need extra passenger space for kids.
 Still, the 2011 Kia Sorento is a continuation of the Korean automaker’s push to change public perception of its products. In the past, a Kia was thought to be small, fuel efficient and cheap. Today’s Kia is certainly a producer of compact and fuel efficient vehicles but every new one I’ve test driven has been top notch. The same was true of the new Sorento.
The vehicle’s dash board was grained, the seams were finished with French stitching and its three-cluster center gauge instruments were dominant and nicely done. The seats were really comfortable and the interior had a soothing ambience.
That feel was certainly buttressed by the Sorento’s equipment. We were disappointed that our test vehicle was not equipped with the panoramic sunroof or the navigation system (we got lost coming back). But it did have Bluetooth, a rearview camera, rear park assist, and heated front seats; tilt/telescoping steering wheel, satellite radio, USB and auxiliary jacks and a DVD rear seat entertainment system.
 The bottom line is that if there’s a feature that is readily available on competitive crossovers that the 2011 Sorento doesn’t have, I don’t know what it could be.
On the way back, I found that I liked the V6 powered Sorento more than the four cylinder version that we drove to West Point. Rather than take I-85 we took two lane highways. In a word, the V6 was quicker but that was to be expected since it had 100 more horsepower. We also got a chance to experience the vehicles handling capability on the curving and dipping roads which wasn’t bad.
The 2011 Sorento goes on sale in January and Kia will heavily promote two elements: it is a new crossover and it is made in America, in Way Point, Georgia to be exact. Prices had not been announced when we test drove the vehicle, but officials said the sticker will start at less than $20,000, fully equipped it will be $30,000 and a nicely equipped the 2011 Sorento will run about $25,000.
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