These are the first pictures of the all-new Kia Sportage crossover, which has been spotted in production-ready form ahead of its debut at the Frankfurt motor show next month. The new SUV is scheduled to go on sale in the UK early next year.
Kia officially previewed the car with a series of design sketches earlier this week, but the car has now been spotted undisguised in Korea. These pictures, originally posted on social media by a Korean car website, show the new Sportage adopts a traditional SUV shape, with styling inspired by 2014's KX3 concept. The new Sportage was styled at Kia's European design centre in Frankfurt, and shares its platform with the Hyundai Tucson.
Kia's official design sketches have shown the cabin of the Sportage will feature a much cleaner dashboard, with a large infotainment screen and a reduced number of buttons on the central console. Spy pictures have also shown parts of the new car's cabin.
Kia also says the interior is set to take a step upmarket, saying it will marry “simple, modern style with rich material quality” and will be the most refined and highest-quality interior the company has made to date. Kia's SUV will need increase its perceived quality inside to fight advanced rivals including the Nissan Qashqai, Honda CR-V and Ford Kuga.
Under the bonnet, Kia has already confirmed that a new powertrain will be offered in the Sportage. This is unlikely to be a plug-in hybrid model, but could allude to either a pure EV version (along the lines of the Soul EV) or to a downsized three-cylinder motor.
Elsewhere, expect the same range of petrol and diesel engines from the Tucson to appear in the Sportage, including that car's 1.6-litre petrol in both 133bhp and 174bhp forms. The diesel range will include a 1.7-litre unit with 113bhp, and also includes two versions of the 2.0-litre diesel, in 134bhp and 181bhp guises. Though natively front-wheel drive, all-wheel drive is likely to be optional on 2.0-litre models.
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