KIA has been going from strength to strength in Singapore.

Its cheap and good models such as the Picanto and Cerato have firmly established themselves in the HDB heartland. But the Korean brand still struggles a little at the mid-range.

The previous Magentis ended up as a taxi while the old Sorento quietly left the Kia showroom in late 2006, a victim of its prohibitive 3.5-litre displacement and comparatively high price. The latter remains the only Kia model to cost more than $100,000.

In the three years or so that it was on sale here, it found only about 50 buyers. So the new Sorento has some ground to cover in the local SUV market. Fortunately for Kia, it has the right ingredients to succeed this time, starting with styling, the all-important consideration for most SUV buyers.

Read the full report in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times, Life!.