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Kia's Sportage and Sorento now with manual option; Prices start at P988,000

Have you ever noticed that cars these days are getting more and more expensive? Well, the Columbian Autocar Corporation (CAC), the official importer and distributor of Kia in the Philippines, is beating the odds with the introduction of two new variants of their most popular crossovers. Get a serving of the new Sportage LX and Sorento LX’s 4x2 manual transmission counterparts, now available at your nearest Kia dealership for more or less P1 million.

The Sportage LX runs on the same 2.0L Theta II gasoline engine found in the EX, but is instead paired with a five-speed manual transmission. Luxuries such as four wheel disk brakes, ABS, six-speaker sound system, and keyless entry with alarm remain standard. But for a tag price of P988,000, you'll have to make do without a passenger side airbag, fog lamps, roof rails, door courtesy lamps, illuminated ignition keyhole, and rear storage box. Still, you do get the same great package that won the Best Crossover in the 2011 - 2012 Car of the Year Philippines. And best of all, you save P80,000 compared to the equivalent Hyundai Tucson and elude the hassle of the long waiting list that comes with its fraternal twin.

As the first two-wheel-drive in the Sorento line-up, expect the Sorento LX to get better fuel efficiency from the 2.4L D-CVVT gasoline engine. There's even more savings to be made when you consider its P1,090,000 SRP which is actually half a million cheaper than the diesel AWD automatic version. The only features missing from this five-seater are fog lamps, roof rails, and the illuminated ignition keyhole.

“We're bringing it closer to our market by introducing variants priced well within their reach. We would like to assure our customers that with the continuous support from Kia Motors Corporation, they will be seeing more class-leading KIAs on the road,” said CAC President, Ms. Ginia R. Domingo.

For less than the price of a Japanese compact sedan, you can now drive home one of Kia's popular crossovers. On top of that, you also get a 5 year or 160,000 km warranty. Beat that!