Frankfurt show: Kia sketches new Sportage

KIA Motors has released sketches of its crucial new-generation Sportage compact SUV ahead of its world premiere at the Frankfurt motor show next month and a launch in Australia around March next year.

The images indicate the fourth-generation model will raise the bar further in terms of progressive styling, which the company describes as being “a bold, progressive design which exudes power and agility from every angle”.

“The dynamic compact SUV styling creates visual harmony out of the tension between bold, precise feature lines and dramatically sculptured bodywork,” Kia said in a statement.

“Inside, the all-new Sportage marries simple, modern style with rich material quality for Kia’s most refined, highest-quality cabin to date.”

The company also said the new model, which was designed at Kia’s European design centre in Frankfurt, “represents the future face” for the South Korean brand.

The sketches show that this continues with the Schreyer-crafted ‘tiger nose’ grille, although the headlight clusters are now positioned further back on the new model’s lower-profile bonnet and powerful-looking shoulders.

As previously reported, these styling cues have already been used on the Chinese-market KX3 that premiered at the Shanghai motor show in April.

The latest Sportage – which is based on the same platform as the recently released Hyundai Tucson – is expected to bring a raft of new technology as well as powertrain upgrades, with the headline act potentially a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine borrowed from the Pro_cee’d GT and Cerato Koup, mated with a new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Like all Kia models, the Sportage will be put through Kia Motors Australia’s local suspension and tuning program to suit Australian conditions.

The sketches emerged this week as the Australian subsidiary confirmed that another new model was heading to this market – the Picanto city car, which is also due for release early next year.