—The world news monitor

SEOUL: Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest carmaker by sales, said Tuesday it aims to sell 70,000 units of the all-new Sorento sport utility vehicle in the domestic market this year.

Kia began to sell the fourth-generation Sorento in the local market on Tuesday as part of a drive to boost sales. The target is up 35 percent from the 52,000 Sorentos sold last year.

The new Sorento comes in two versions, one with a 2.2-liter diesel-powered engine and an eight-speed double-clutch transmission and one with a 1.6 gasoline turbocharged hybrid engine and a six-speed automatic gearbox, the company said in a statement.

The new Sorento uses a new design concept called Borderless Gesture, which is defined by a combination of the "strong design heritage" of its predecessors and the "refined and delicate feel" of a sedan, it said.

The new model sells at the starting price of 36 million won (US$29,000), with prices rising up to 38 million won.

Kia's SUV lineup is composed of the flagship Telluride and Mohave, midsize Sorento, compact Sportage, subcompact Stonic, Soul boxcar and Niro hybrid models. The Telluride, produced in Kia's Georgia plant, was launched in the U.S. last year and is sold only in North American markets.

For the whole of 2019, Kia's net profit jumped 58 percent to 1.83 trillion won (US$1.6 billion) from 1.16 trillion won a year earlier.

In 2020, the company aims to sell 2.96 million vehicles globally, up 4.9 percent from the 2.77 million units it sold last year.

To help achieve the sales target, it plans to launch the new Sorento in the U.S. market later this year.