After a lot of spy shots and leaked pictures, we have confirmed the date. September 17th is the date selected by Kia to unveil the 4th generation 2016 Kia Sportage at the 66th edition of the Frankfurt Internacional Motor Show.
[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]What is it that we know so far?
Inside, the 2016 Kia Sportage, will have an identical steering wheel compared to the All-New Optima, while the car is using a big centered dashboard, with a 8 inch Infinity infotainment system heading the dashboard.
The dashboard design in the 2016 Kia Sportage is very similar to the latest Sorento & Sedona (the air vents looks closer to the Sorento, but at this time the screen hasn’t have that floating effect), and are inserted into the dashboard like in the latest generation Sedona.
About the exterior, the spy pictures and several leaks showed a two model range, we confirmed this with Kia, and the all-new Sportage will be offered with the same two faces as we saw in the All-New K5, the MX model, with a more modern design and the SX model, a sportier model that showed ice-cubed LED and 3 LED Optima inspired headlights, but at least, only for South Korea.
Before that, Kia will reveal the fourth generation Sportage in late August in South Korea. For the US-market we need to wait, but just today I saw a report from South Korea that says October for the launch. In Europe will be available at the end of the year.
[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]The engine line-up will be almost the same as the new Tucson, with the all-new 7-speed dual clutch transmission, which will be available at launch besides a choice of gasoline direct injection and diesel engines, plus small turbo engines. In the diesel side, improved 1.7 CRDi 116 hp could be the most desired into European market.
About the petrol engines, the 1.6 GDi will be the base engine, while a turbo variant will offer 185 hp for European spec model. About an all-new small turbo engine, the 1.2 T-GDi delivering 132 hp is not confirmed yet. Talking with our sources, in the case Kia decided to use this engine, will be only available in Europe.
South Korea line-up will be reduced to 1.7 CRDi available with 7-speed DCT & 2.0 CRDi diesel engines, plus a 2.0 T-GDi engine. In the US-market, we are not sure if Kia will include the 2.0 Turbo GDi, but is available in the current model, so maybe continues as a SXL version.
Photo Source: [StreetKiaZ Germany Chapter and CarPIX]
