The fourth-generation Sportage is eager to show its face, but will not be allowed to climb on the podium until September. Today, Kia shows the first official teasers of the new Sportage to warm up the mood.
Kia is following a pronounced design path to a lesser extent than sister brand Hyundai, but that will soon change. With its extravagant appearance, the EV6 showed the first result of Kia’s new ‘Opposites United’ design language and the new Kia Sportage is also designed according to that design philosophy. The new Kia Sportage has already been caught in camouflage trim several times and now Kia is releasing images of the new Sportage for the first time.
The released images are very dark, but the design of the new Kia Sportage is already noticeable. The new Sportage gets a stubborn front, complete with large C-shaped LED elements and possibly more or less hidden headlights in the grille. The lighting at the back also seems to be nice and eccentric, complete with foothills at the corners and an LED strip that connects the light units. Kia also gives the new Sportage a striking design element in the C-pillar.
Like the technical brother of Hyundai Tucson, the new Kia Sportage will also have a modern-looking interior, in which displays determine the bulk of the design. However, the design of the dashboard in the Sportage is completely unique. Behind the wheel is apparently a large curved panel that houses both the screen of the infotainment system and the instruments. The vertically oriented ventilation grilles make the switch to the new Sportage, although they have been cast in a completely new shape and incorporated in a horizontal chrome strip at the part for the co-driver.
In terms of technology, the new Kia Sportage will have many similarities with Hyundai’s Tucson. Count on a hybrid powertrain, but also on a plug-in hybrid and mild-hybrid variant. According to Kia, the new Sportage has been specially developed for Europe. This is the first time, as previous generations were also sold far beyond the European borders. Incidentally, Kia sells the Sportage as we know it with a different front as KX5. In addition, Kia in the country has an SUV on the menu that listens to the name Sportage, but in fact a Hyundai ix35 that is also not what you think.
Kia will introduce the new Sportage in September, possibly at the Munich IAA that takes place in that month. Kia scores very well with the Sportage in the Netherlands, among other places. With 41,825 units sold since 2005, it is the best-selling Kia in our country after the Picanto and Rio. Last year, 449 copies were sold, a fraction of the 3,000 copies that Kia managed to sell of the current Sportage in 2016. The Sportage experienced its best sales year in 2011, when 5,513 units of the third generation Sportage found a Dutch owner.