The Kia Sorento XE-C is derived from the 2.5 CRDi XE Sorento and comes with air-conditioning as standard and at a class-leading price tag of £14,999 (commercial vehicle on-the-road).

The Sorento XE-C will have all the same specification as the current XE model, including part-time Electric Shift Transfer 4WD for severe driving conditions.

The Sorento XE-C has a braked trailer towing capacity of 2800kg.

The Sorento XE-C’s 2.5-litre diesel engine incorporates Bosch common rail technology and delivers maximum horsepower of 138bhp at 3,800rpm and 343 Nm of torque at 1850-2500rpm.

The engine is mated to either a five-speed manual gearbox or a five-speed sports automatic transmission.

The manual diesel produces an extra urban fuel consumption of 43.5 mpg and a combined figure of 36.7 mpg, compared to 41.5 mpg and 33.6 mpg respectively for the automatic.

The cargo area has maximised the space in the Sorento’s passenger cabin and gives users a load height of 930 mm, a maximum load width of 1370 mm and a length of 1610 mm. The cargo area is accessed from the passenger side doors, tailgate and flip-up tailgate glass.