India, Oct. 3 -- Ever wondered what the secret sauce behind Kia's success in India is? I posed that question to the management right before the Sorento press drive, and the simple answer was market research. Of course, the product and engineering matter, too, but Kia's real strength is knowing exactly what its customers want. The Seltos, Sonet, and Carens are proof of that. And judging by what I've seen so far, the Sorento could soon join the ranks of its successful siblings.

On paper, the Sorento has all the makings of a winner. That's because it effectively straddles three different segments. At one end, it is going after buyers of the Mahindra XUV 7XO, while at the other, it is going to make the already difficult lives of its direct ...