John Daniel, Managing Director, Brotherwood
Kia Motors UK Ltd, is delighted to announce a partnership with Brotherwood, one of the UK’s leading vehicle converters, specialising in customising cars for wheelchair-using passengers. This month sees Brotherwood become the first vehicle converter to offer the Kia Sorento to the UK’s wheelchair passenger market. Adapting the car to provide users with a sleekly designed SUV on the outside, Brotherwood has transformed the inside of the Sorento’s cabin for quick and simple wheelchair access to journey as a front-seat passenger.
In close conjunction with Kia, Brotherwood has worked to ensure that everything from the Sorento’s sleek yet bold design to its industry-leading seven year warranty is retained for its customers.
Using the base vehicle design from Kia, the engineering team at Brotherwood has converted the Sorento to feature rear-access via a specially designed ramp. With back seats that fold easily to one side, the wheelchair user simply enters the car and is stationed next to the driver’s seat, secured safely by a harness. The front passenger cabin has been lowered to allow for the wheelchair user to sit at the same height as the driver for comfortable visibility, as well as giving a lower centre of gravity for greater stability when in transit.
John Daniel, Managing Director at Brotherwood comments: “We’re delighted to launch the Kia Sorento to our customers. Not only is it a spacious car that meets our customers’ needs, the Sorento is a stunningly designed SUV you want to drive and be seen driving.”
Brotherwood serves customers across the UK and as far away as South Africa and New Zealand. The company also works closely with a number of Kia’s own dealerships, including FJ Chalke. Steve Fowler, Director, at FJ Chalke says: “We’ve been working with the team at Brotherwood for 25 years and our customers are always more than satisfied with the quality of vehicle they receive. What I admire most about Brotherwood’s engineering process is that they never fail to keep the integrity of the base vehicle, whether that’s the aesthetics or the warranty. And they’ve done exactly that with the new Kia Sorento; the modification makes for an ideal family car, but with the added wheelchair access feature.”
Vehicle features
Quick simple easy loading operation- Low level forward wheelchair positioned alongside driver with excellent visibility
- Secures up to 190 kilos
- Full four-point wheelchair restraint system with lap and diagonal passenger safety belt
- Long range 56 Litre aluminium fuel tank
- New STO-Matic easy folding rear seating
- 4×2 Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), identical to the AWD but transformed to suit accessibility for the wheelchair passenger
- Engine – 2.2 litre CRDi Euro V 194 bhp Diesel
- Transmission – 6-speed manual transmission, 6-speed automatic gearbox, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) & Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) & Brake Assist System (BAS)
- Fuel Consumption: 50-57 mpg (Extra Urban)
To find out more about Kia, visit www.kia.co.uk, and for further information about Brotherwood, visit the website: www.brotherwood.com
