The new Kia Sportage will begin delivery in January, a fifth generation that brings a groundbreaking aesthetic and a well-finished interior. It has a wide range of engines from the beginning.
The Kia Sportage has become a key car for Kia’s business strategy, one of their best-selling models. In 2012, it accounted for no less than 41% of its sales. Today, it is 20%, given the widening of the range that the brand has been making, which has allowed it to diversify its offer.
Enter a tough market, where competition is fierce. There are many well-known brands and models, so finding a place among them is not easy. How does Kia intend to do it? Through a groundbreaking design, in true Hyundai style with its Tucson. Without being as risky as its cousin, the Kia Sportage takes risks with its forms, especially on the front, with the aim of attracting those customers looking for something different.
The design language is completely new, with a front that redesigns the ‘Tiger Nose’ to make room for the car’s attractive boomerang-shaped LED lights. The robustness is high, thanks to a quite muscular bumper to finish rounding the product. It also stands out that Kia has included its new logo on the front.
This version that we have seen is the ‘GT Line’. Although we do not know how the range will be composed in Spain, we understand that this will be the top of the range, so that some aesthetic elements could disappear.
This car has been designed exclusively for Europe. Yes, in other markets they will also have the Kia Sportage, but aesthetically it changes, especially in its rear quarter. There we see how Kia has decided to ‘cut’ the chrome under the side windows to continue at a greater height towards the rear. On this unit, the paint is two-tone, with an attractive green (launch color) combined with the black of the roof and pillars.
Being a pre-series unit, We have not been able to check if it has a good level of assembly and if the exterior finishes are good. We will see it when it lands in Spain: the first deliveries will be made in January and orders will start two months before, although the exact date is not known.
The same happens with the price: as you have read above, Kia is developing the range for Spain. They do not even know if all the engines that the firm has on the list will be available in our continent. These if we know them, but there could be some loss at the last minute.
Engines available for the Kia Sportage
- Petrol MHEV 1.6 TGDI 150 CV
- Petrol MHEV 1.6 TGDI 180 CV
- 115 hp CRDi diesel
- Diesel MHEV 1.6 CRDi 136 hp
- Hybrid with 1.48 kWh and 230 hp battery
- Plug-in hybrid with 13.8 kWh and 265 hp battery
Interior del Kia Sportage 2022
Inside, the Kia Sportage mixes interesting aesthetic details with a good arsenal of technology.. For example, it has attractive air vents and truly comfortable seats. They will have to be tested on the go and also in a lower finish, but a priori they look good. Added to this is its double screen, both joined together by a black surface. They are both the same size, 12.3 inches, which are easy to handle.
The air conditioning is also tactile, since next to the two wheels it has a panel where we choose different options. Here, having the buttons fixed, I would have opted for a haptic system that gives some feedback to the driver when using it.
The rear space is quite good, thanks to the increase in the dimensions of the vehicle compared to its predecessor. The rear seats have two interesting details: one is the USB ports integrated into the seat at mid-height, which makes it easy to use. The other, the hanger shape that the back of the headrests have.
The Kia Sportage has other interesting details, like a change by means of a wheel, in addition to other physical controls that are very close at hand. The Kia Sportage, of course, offers a good first image that we will have to check in the dynamic test.
