SYDNEY: Kia will unveil an all-new version of its Sportage SUV at this September’s Frankfurt motor show, with UK sales likely to start early next year.
So far, Kia has released only sketches of the car and, like most design sketches, they show enormous wheels and pillbox slot windows, which won’t make production. But the new Sportage should still look quite dramatic; there’s more than a hint of Porsche Macan about its front end.
Kia itself claims the new Sportage “exudes power and agility from every angle” and that its styling “creates visual harmony out of the tension between bold, precise feature lines and dramatically-sculpted bodywork”.
Meanwhile, it describes the interior as marrying “simple, modern style with rich material quality for Kia’s highest-quality cabin to date”.
Like its predecessor, the new Sportage will compete in one of the most competitive – and lucrative – sectors of the car market, against models such as the Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Yeti, although prices are likely to rise slightly to reflect the improved interior.
The current 1.6-litre petrol and 1.7- and 2.0-litre diesel engines will be carried over. But for the first time, there is also likely to be a plug-in hybrid option.
We’ll be reporting live from the press day of the 2015 Frankfurt motor show on September 15. The show is open to the general public from September 17-27.
