With a stronger engine, more features than ever and a roomier interior, the Kia Sedona is a much-improved minivan today compared with its first-generation model.

So why isn’t the second-generation Sedona — with pleasing ride, attractive styling, comfortable seating for seven and top safety ratings — selling as well as its predecessor?

Chalk it up to pricing changes, less than stellar reliability and quality ratings, consumer obsession with gasoline mileage and, of course, the lackluster image that all minivans bear as “mom mobiles.”

When the seven-passenger Sedona originally debuted in the 2002 model year, it had the lowest starting price of any V-6-powered minivan on the U.S. market.

Today, while the 2008 Sedona is offered in a downsized version with short wheelbase that starts at $21,420, the Sedona models that are sized and equipped on a par with major minivan competitors have a starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $24,320.

This is $1,850 more than the base 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan, with a starting retail price of $22,470, and it’s a tad more than the Chrysler Town and Country’s $24,185 base price.

Kia has had its quality issues, too — never rising in recent years much above average in the annual J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study. And the 2008 Sedona has a “worse than average” predicted reliability rating from Consumer Reports. It did earn five out of five stars in federal government front and side crash testing and was one of just 34 vehicles to be a Top Safety Pick of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety last year. The newest challenge for the Sedona and other minivans comes as Americans seek high-mileage, smaller vehicles. With a federal government rating of only 16 mpg in city driving, the Sedona doesn’t look, on first blush, all that fuel efficient.

Of course, that’s before a shopper takes into account that the Sedona can carry seven with ease, with wide side doors for entry into the back seats. So on a per-passenger basis, the Sedona’s fuel economy is great — except that there’s no guarantee that every time the Sedona travels, it will have a full load of passengers.

By the way, the highway mileage rating for the Sedona is 23 mpg, but during the test drive, the test top-of-the-line Sedona EX recorded a combined city/highway mileage of 18.5 mpg.

The most memorable feature of the 2008 Sedona is the good power that comes from the 3.8-liter, double overhead cam V-6. This engine is larger than the 3.3-liter unit that was in the original Sedona, and the punch from its 253 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500 rpm is satisfying, especially since the more than 4,360-pound Sedona is a substantial, weighty van.

It is one of the few mainstream vehicles to include a shift-it-yourself mode that lets the driver move the shifter through various drive gears without having a clutch pedal. This can help modulate speed and reduce the need to use the brakes on steep downhills, for example.

The ride in the front-wheel-drive Sedona is what you’d expect in a minivan — compliant and forgiving on most road bumps. Passengers feel some body lean in turns and curves, and there’s a sense of the tall, 5.8-foot height that gives passengers good views out.

U.S. sales of Sedonas for 2008 are on pace to total only about half of the 61,149 sales tallied in calendar 2004, when the Sedona was Kia’s most popular vehicle.

2008 Kia Sedona EX minivan

Base price: $20,695 for base van; $23,595 for LX; $26,195 for EX

As tested: $32,220

Type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, seven-passenger minivan

Engine: 3.8-liter, double overhead cam, 60-degree V-6

Mileage: 16 mpg (city), 23 mpg (highway)

Length: 202 inches

Wheelbase: 118.9 inches

Curb weight: 4,646 pounds

Built in: South Koreae_SClBOptions: Luxury package (includes leather seat trim, heated front seats, automatic, tri-zone climate control, backup warning system, audio controls on steering wheel, power sunroof and power adjustable pedals) $2,400; premium entertainment package (includes DVD player with 8-inch display and Infinity surround sound system) $1,700; power package (includes power sliding side doors and power liftgate) $1,000; roof rail cross bars $200