There have been quite a few changes to the exterior of the Sportage. The crossover now features a rectangular grille, and the headlights have a completely different design. They run along the sides straight down, whereas previously they had a more angular shape and converged toward the grille.
The lower grille is now rectangular, while the front bumper expresses straight lines. At the rear, the designers worked more subtly - the new taillights with changed arrangements stand out particularly. Kia has shared several photos of the white Baseline version in addition to the one shown in the GT-Line header photo.
In the interior, at first glance, everything looks familiar, but in fact, quite a lot has changed. The dashboard has been seriously updated, with the air vents now positioned slightly lower and aligned with each other. The central button island is also framed a bit differently, and the piano lacquer on the center console has disappeared. Even more prominent are the completely new two-spoke steering wheel and the rectangular combination of screens.
The updated Kia Sportage comes standard with two 12.3-inch screens - one for the instruments, the other for the infotainment system. A new 10-inch head-up display has also appeared.
The European Kia Sportage in its updated form will hit the market with mild-hybrid and hybrid powertrains:
- Mild-hybrid: 1.6 T-GDI engine with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission
- Hybrid: 1.6 T-GDI engine and 6-speed automatic transmission. The total power of the hybrid system has been increased to 239 hp.
Kia is currently silent about the plug-in hybrid version of the Sportage, but it can also be expected to appear.
Source: Kia