Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the suv segment and utilize the same 5-door suv body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Mitsubishi-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 139hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 18-valves 218hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the German car offers a considerable difference of 14% more metal.

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that KIA does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of KIA with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Sorento as average reliability-wise, and ML is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Korean car rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.6 out of 5.

Mercedes Benz is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 195 kilometers per hour, 27km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the Korean car, averaging around 10.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (26 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 24% difference compared to the German car!

Mercedes Benz appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the German car offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. It all continues in the same direction, with Mercedes Benz outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say KIA. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.