First sight of all-new Sportage 27 | 08 | 2015

    THIS IS OUR first official view of the all-new Kia Sportage ahead of its global unveil at the Frankfurt Motor Show on September 15. It's expected to enter Scottish dealerships early next year.

    Boasting a brand new look, and with a higher quality build which will pitch it directly against the likes of the Honda CR-V and Nissan Qashqai, the fourth-generation Sportage gets totally new styling at the side and rear.

    Without question though, the biggest changes come at the front where the headlights are no longer integrated into the grille, as they were on the third-generation Sportage. Instead they now sit higher up on the side of the bonnet.

    This improvement now means the familiar Kia nose and stand-alone grille, which feature on the majority of the company’s range, gets pride of place. Noticeably, the lower grille now sits lower, plus there's a silver coloured kickplate on the lower edge and the foglights sit in a larger cluster than before.

    Related: First 'sneak' image of new Sportage

    From the side the new Sportage gets a more raked profile and the wheelarches are more pronounced. At the rear of the car, there's now a strong line running horizontally across the bootlid between the two tail-light clusters. There's also been tweaks to the indicator and reversing lights which are now much lower down than before and sit in a separate cluster on the rear bumper.

    Full details — including spec and prices — will be announced at Frankfurt, though it's understood the new Sportage is likely to get a significantly upgraded cabin over the old version.

    It's also expected the range will include a brand new four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, with several powerplants from the similarly sized Tucson — built by Kia’s sister company, Hyundai —also set to be carried over, including the 113bhp 1.7-litre diesel and two versions of the 2.0-litre diesel, in 134bhp and 181bhp formats.

    The design of the new Sportage has been led by Kia’s European design studio in Frankfurt, Germany, with input from the brand’s Namyang, Korea and Irvine, California design centres.

    Related: First sketch of new Kia Sportage

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    Jim McGill

     

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