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One of the weakest minivan entries on the market just got a lot stronger.

While the completely redesigned 2006 Kia Sedona might not yet be on the level of the top-selling Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan, or the best-selling import brand, the Honda Odyssey, or even the second-best-selling import brand, the Toyota Sienna, it’s good enough to be a major player in the minivan segment.

And in a class that accounts for about a million sales annually, it’s important to have a vehicle that can compete. Just ask Nissan, whose actually very nice Quest has had a hard time carving out a niche against the more-established vans from Dodge/Chrysler, Honda and Toyota.

And both Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. have yet to find the right formula to be major players in the segment.

Changes in the new Sedona, along with a starting price ($23,665, including freight) that is about $2,200 below that of the entry-level Odyssey model, should give it great appeal in a market that has seen a lot of former minivan owners shift to the new crossover utility vehicles.

The original Sedona arrived for 2002 with just the bare necessities to play in the minivan segment. But it was smaller than most, did not come with the option of powered sliding doors, and the interior was rather crude for a modern vehicle.

And that’s not to mention the power, or lack thereof. The original Sedona was powered by a 3.5-liter V-6 engine rated at 195 horsepower.

The new model bumps that up to 244 horsepower, which is even with the Odyssey’s; but the Sedona boasts 253 foot-pounds of torque, beating the Odyssey’s 240. The new Sedona is just a bit more powerful than the Quest, with 240 horsepower and 242 foot-pounds of torque, but it’s way above the 215 horsepower and 222 foot-pounds of torque in the Sienna.

The new Sedona has the biggest edge over the Caravan/Grand Caravan, however. Their base 3.3-liter V-6 has just 180 horsepower and 210 foot-pounds of torque, while their uplevel 3.8-liter engine turns out 205 horsepower and 240 foot-pounds of torque. Performance isn’t the primary selling point for most minivans, though, so the Sedona needs strengths in other areas to compete well against the segment’s leaders. And in several important attributes, it measures up very well. Those include exterior styling, interior space and functionality.

The third row of seats, for instance, can fold completely into the floor to create a flat cargo space, and the center row captain’s chairs, which weigh 60 pounds each, can be folded forward or removed completely to add cargo space.

That matches the configuration of the Odyssey, Sienna and Quest, but is not quite as convenient as the Dodge/Chrysler vans’ new stow-and-go seats. With those, both middle and rear seating rows can be folded into the floor to create a huge, flat load space from the back of the front seats to the tailgate.

The new Sedona also offers power sliding doors on both sides, as well as a power tailgate – features that many minivan buyers demand these days, but which weren’t available on the previous model.

Another new option that is catching on with consumers is power adjustable foot pedals, something that has begun appearing on a lot of different vehicles after being introduced a few years ago on some Ford Motor Co. products.

Remarkably, styling is one of the new Sedona’s strongest points, It looks more like a crossover SUV than a minivan, a move that GM took last year with a remake of its minivans.

So far, that design strategy hasn’t done much for GM, but perhaps it will work for Kia.

Where the previous Sedona competed at least marginally in the segment because of its low price – beginning at about $21,000 – this newest model can justify its $2,200 increase in price over the ’05 model because of all the added amenities, including the extra power and better seating/cargo configurations.

Kia, the South Korean car company that is now a subsidiary of its former rival Hyundai, will share the new Sedona’s platform with Hyundai, which will call its similar minivan the Entourage. It is expected to reach the market later this year.

At one point last year, Hyundai had announced that it was canceling its previously announced plans to produce the Entourage. But later, in an abrupt about-face, the company put the Entourage back into its plans.

There’s no doubt that dealer sentiments played a role in the ultimate decision to produce the Entourage, which Hyundai insists will look very different from the already quite styling new Sedona. Hyundai dealers have been clamoring for a minivan for years, and were somewhat upset that Kia got one first.

Only a long-wheelbase version of the Entourage is planned, however, while Kia says it will add a short-wheelbase version of the Sedona later this year to compete against the Dodge Caravan.

The 2006 Sedona that is arriving at dealerships now is the long-wheelbase version – 118.9 inches – which is nearly the size of the Grand Caravan and Sienna, but six-inches shorter than the roomiest van in the class, the Quest. The base Caravan has a 113.3-inch wheelbase, slightly shorter than the 114.6-inch wheelbase of the 2005 Sedona.

Overall length of the new Sedona is 202 inches, compared with 194.1 inches for the previous model and 200.5 inches for the Grand Caravan. The short-wheelbase Sedona will be about a foot shorter overall.

The new Sedona’s aluminum 3.8-liter engine is shared with the Hyundai Santa Fe midsize SUV and Hyundai’s new flagship sedan, the Azera. It also will be shared with the Entourage minivan.

Kia says the new Sedona, despite being larger and more powerful, is 400 pounds lighter than the model it replaced.

That’s due in part to less weight in the engine because of its aluminum construction; the previous model had a cast-iron engine.

The body of the van also uses lighter high-tensile steel, and both the transmission and rear suspension are lighter than before, the company said.

The new Sedona seats up to seven passengers, and comes in two trim levels – the base LX and the uplevel EX. The EX price begins about $2,600 higher than the base price, or about $26,200.

Standard features include cruise control, electronic stability and traction control, AM/FM/compact-disc stereo system, remote tire-pressure monitoring, power windows/mirrors/door locks with remote, tri-zone air conditioning, four-wheel antilock disc brakes, five-speed automatic transmission.

Besides the features above, the EX adds a chrome grille, fog lights, eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated power mirrors, AM/FM/Cassette/MP3/CD stereo system, auto-dimming rearview mirror with universal garage/gate opener, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, power rear quarter glass, compass, roof rack and wood trim.

Options include leather seats with front-seat heaters; memory for the driver’s seat, outside mirrors and adjustable pedals; a backup warning system; power sunroof; and a 660-watt premium entertainment system with a DVD player and 13 speakers with surround sound.

The warranty offers basic coverage for five years/60,000 miles, which includes roadside assistance; and extended powertrain coverage for 10 years/100,000 miles. There also is a five-year/100,000-mile anti-perforation warranty.

Kia hopes the new Sedona will win as many honors as the previous model did, including a five-star safety rating from the federal government, a 2002 AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Award, designation as Sport Truck Connection TV’s “Best Van” for 2002 and 2003, and Strategic Vision’s Total Value Index winner for 2002 and 2004. Although Kia hasn’t said how many Sedonas it expects to sell annually with this newest model, the company obviously wants to beat last year’s sales figure of 52,837 units.

In comparison, Chrysler Group sold a combined 407,570 of the Dodge and Chrysler minivans last year; Honda sold 174,275 of its Odyssey; and Toyota sold 161,380 of its Sienna.

G. Chambers Williams III is staff automotive columnist for the San Antonio Express-News and former transportation writer for the Star-Telegram. His automotive columns have appeared regularly in the Star-Telegram since 1995. Contact him at (210) 250-3236; chambers@star-telegram.com.