Kia has officially pulled the sheet off its new generation Sportage, showing a radically different design and significantly upgraded interior and equipment.
Kia has overhauled the Sportage, its popular family medium-sized SUV, which will enter its fifth generation on the market later this year.
Kia Australia is hoping for a late-2021 launch, though pricing and specifications are yet to be announced.
The design direction, which is radically different from the current Kia Sportage on roads (and sometimes referred to as ‘Porsche’ inspired), the new Sportage uses the latest ‘Opposites United’ design language that the Korean manufacturer debuted on its EV6 electric vehicle.
Shared design cues include the C-shaped, boomerang LED headlights upfront and blistered guards with a rear spoiler over the boot. Input for the design came from around the world, with Kia housing design centre in Korea, USA, Germany and China.
“Reinventing the Sportage gave our talented design teams a tremendous opportunity to do something new; to take inspiration from the recent brand relaunch and introduction of EV6 to inspire customers through modern and innovative SUV design,” said Kia design chief Karim Habib.
“With the all-new Sportage, we didn’t simply want to take one step forward but instead move on to a different level in the SUV class.
Joining the lineup for the first time is a more ‘offroad’ version with sporty additions including unique, rugged body styling and roof racks.
Inside, the Sportage sees a large curved digital display that spans across from the driver’s side to the centre. It houses both the digital cluster for the driver and the infotainment system, with ‘soft-touch’ haptic switches on the gloss-finish centre console. Expect to see Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as standard equipment, potentially via a wireless connection.
Elsewhere, the materials and design have been elevated to bring a more luxurious feeling. Dimensionally, Kia has not said how the cabin might have changed in size.
Underneath the bonnet, we expect to see a range of hybrid and plug-in hybrid system and 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder drivelines, in both front and all-wheel-drive configurations.
More details to come for the Australian launch and pricing.
Love how they blatantly copy the hideous Mercedes ironing board sized iPad dash
Many of the manufacturers are doing that now – I presume there is a supplier providing multiple manufacturers with the giant curved screens. Bit like the double square headlights in the early 80s, where most manufacturers used variations of the same headlight.