Craig's Cars: All-New 2016 Kia Sportage Spotted Camo-Free

Kia’s all-new 4th generation Sportage has been spied on test free of camouflage, so what can we draw from what we see?

A completely new design has been taken onboard, with the most obvious features being Kia’s lower ‘tiger nose’ grille and ‘ice cube’ LED daytime running lights which are incorporated into the bumper with inspiration clearly taken from the Kia Cee’d and Pro_Cee’d GT, although whether this will be standard equipment on entry-level models is unknown yet.

Luxurious touches have been taken from its bigger brother, the Sorento, and the similarly plush Optima saloon. The materials seen in the pictures appear to be of high quality, even down at levels not normally seen from a regular driving position, whilst the infotainment display takes centre stage surrounded by two equally large air vents.

Sharing its platform with Hyundai’s brand new Tuscon means it’s likely to share the engines too. If so, the range would consist of a 132 PS 1.6-litre petrol unit and another 1.6-litre turbocharged 177 PS petrol, whilst diesels would include a 116 PS 1.7 and a 2.0-litre unit with two power outputs of 136 and 185 PS.

It makes sense that front-wheel-drive Sportages will be the primary offer, with all-wheel-drive variants being available higher up the spec. Identifying itself as the sportier Korean brand, we could even expect higher outputs from the engines.

It’s set for its public debut on September the 15th at the Frankfurt Motor Show where we can hopefully expect some more details.