Kia is getting ready to make one pretty unexpected move for the upcoming year. The Korean automaker will add an oil-burner model to the Sorento engine list, so the potential buyers are going to able to pick a 2.2-liter turbodiesel beside the existing 2.4-liter four-cylinder and 3.3-liter V6 gasoline units.

It’s quite silly to compare the gasoline mills with the diesel, simply because they are not comparable. Plus, some drivers can’t stand the oil burn, so for them, any kind of diesel SUV is out of options. For those, however, which want an extra dose of torque, the 2020 Kia Sorento Diesel may be the perfect match thanks to the impressive 2.2-liter turbodiesel which pumps out 190 horsepower and 322 pound-feet of grunt. The more potent gasoline unit is, for example, limited to 252 pound-feet, but it delivers 290 horsepower, so you do the count.

In any case, the vehicle you see here is actually the testing prototype, which was reportedly in hands of the Environmental Protection Agency at the particular moment. We know it’s the 2020 Kia Sorento Diesel because of the fuel door that says “diesel only”. Styling-wise, we don’t see anything special at all. More precisely, aside from a pair of brand new exhaust pipes in the back, the SUV has nothing different in comparison with the gasoline model.

According to the latest reports, the 2020 Sorento Diesel will hit the showrooms early next year. Kia hasn’t set the price of the oil-burner at the moment.