Kia starts teasing new-gen Sportage for July reveal

KIA Australia (KAU) has released the first teaser images of its fifth-generation Sportage ahead of its July launch with the new mid-sized family hauler set to take a big step up both in terms of design and technology.

On the design front, Kia says the new Sportage takes inspiration “from nature and modernity” and will flaunt a “refined and muscular body”, contrasted against by “crisp, tense and clean character lines”.

Examining two of the three teaser images, we can see the current model’s somewhat frumpy design has been replaced by much cleaner look with the sloping roofline, swooping windowline and rear end closely resembling that of the EV6.

At the front is what looks to be a radical new take on the tiger-nose grille with a completely new daytime running light signature while the headlights have been set low-down on the fascia, similar to the new – and mechanically related – Tucson currently being launched nationally.

The third and final image meanwhile reveals all of the key layout details of the interior which will be dominated – on the high-end variants at least – by a new curved display encompassing both the instrument cluster (digital) and infotainment system, again as seen in the EV6.

With such a large display ruling the roost, it comes as little surprise to find the dashboard features a prominent contour down the centre, almost dividing itself into two distinct sections: driver and passenger.

No details have been revealed yet as to the new Sportage’s drivetrains, however if the Tucson is anything to go by, the current crop of petrol and diesel engines along with their respective transmissions and drive configurations should all be carried over largely unchanged.

Speaking to local media at the virtual media launch of the electrified Niro compact SUV, KAU product planning general manager Roland Rivero revealed that hybrid and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrains were also under study for the new Sportage.

According to Kia global design boss Karim Habib, the brand is “fully focused” on taking the new-generation Sportage to a new level.

“Taking inspiration from an ethos we created where nature meets technology, the all-new Sportage challenges the norm with an adventurous and contemporary exterior and a carefully conceived, beautifully detailed interior,” he said.

The current-generation Sportage has been a strong seller for KAU right the way though its lifecycle, and even now in its sixth year it still occupies 5.2 per cent of the sub-$60,000 medium SUV market with 2820 sales so far this year ending April, making it the brand’s second-most popular model.