Kia dropped a bunch of surprises on the crowd at the 2018 New York International Auto Show, including this — the lightly refreshed 2019 Kia Sedona minivan. Featuring some minor tweaks and revisions, plus a lightly redone look front and rear, and a couple of new features inside, this is a mild refresh of the existing Sedona that has been on sale for a few years.
Exterior
The outside of the Sedona looks much as it did before, but the new front end, headlights, grille and foglights are restyled to bring the Sedona more in line with the rest of the look of the Kia lineup. Five trim levels are still available: L, LX, EX/EX Premium, SX and SXL. The SX and SXL trims receive standard LED headlights, while all models get redesigned taillights and tailgate trim.
New 17-, 18- and 19-inch wheels will be available, depending on trim level. A new power sliding-door button has been added to the exterior handles of the EX and higher trim levels, providing one-touch entry to the van’s cabin.
Interior
Inside, the Sedona gets a few tweaks and tucks. Most noticeable will be a new style for the console and instrument cluster, with new graphics for both. A new wireless smartphone charger is added to the redesigned console, which also gets a new electronic parking brake, standard on SX and SXL trims.
In back, a new USB charging plug has been added to the cargo area for third-row occupants, while the rear entertainment system now has twin 10.1-inch touchscreens located in the front seatbacks. It has the ability to mirror smartphone interfaces when used with compatible devices, allowing videos to be played directly from a plugged-in device. The premium audio system is now a Harman Kardon system, instead of the previous model’s Infinity-branded system.
Under the Hood
Powering the Sedona is the same naturally aspirated 3.3-liter V-6 engine as before, but now mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Horsepower remains the same at 276 and torque is unchanged from 248 pounds-feet, but Kia expects the van’s fuel economy numbers to improve thanks to the new gearbox.
Safety
The Sedona returns with a host of available safety systems, including smart cruise control with stop-and-go functionality, rear cross-traffic alert, blind spot warning, forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking. But now it adds an attention monitor called Driver Attention Warning, which monitors vehicle and driving behavior to detect a fatigued or inattentive driver.
