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Pictures released today, will debut at Frankfurt Auto Show:
Kia today released pictures of its latest Sportage ahead of the SUV's debut at the upcoming Frankfurt auto show.
The fourth-generation Sportage gets a sleeker look and an upscale interior to help it compete better in the tough compact SUV segment.
In the new model, the Sportage's headlights are no longer integrated into the grille but are higher up next to the hood. The sides have a more raked profile and the wheel arches are more pronounced.
Kia says the Sportage has the most refined and highest-quality interior the brand has made to date.
The design changes and interior tweaks are aimed at giving the SUV a more upscale look and feel to help the model compete against rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai.
The Sportage was designed by Kia's European design center in Frankfurt with input from the brand's studios in Namyang, Korea and Irvine, California.
In the U.S., the SUV posted a 20 percent sales gain to 29,247 units through July.
The Sportage is Kia's top seller in Europe and the third best-selling compact SUV segment in the region after the Qashqai and Volkswagen Tiguan. Sportage sales in Europe rose 15 percent to 66,447 through July, according to market researcher JATO Dynamics.
My brother took one look at that new front end, patted me on the shoulder, and said "Mike, I'm glad we went shopping for that 2015".......although the current design is being carried over through at least part of next year as a 2016 model, minus a few paint colors and some features, until the new 2017 model debuts.
Ugly front. Looks just like the Subaru Tribeca which no one thought was pretty. Headlights need to be on the front of the car, not on top of the hood. Grille is also an uneasy and harsh shape. Makes no sense to add lego shapes. The rest of the body and the rear are attractive, but the front ruins it (for me at least).
Also strange the center stack is missing a pillar on one side. BMW pulls it off a little better, but here it looks like someone yanked out a pillar and left the center junk hanging on for dear life.
Prediction: giant d-pillar is going to be a huge blind spot. How hard would it have been to just extend the side windows a little further back? Doing that would have fixed any blind spot issue and make the small SUV appear longer on the outside, win-win.
Ugly front. Looks just like the Subaru Tribeca which no one thought was pretty. Headlights need to be on the front of the car, not on top of the hood. Grille is also an uneasy and harsh shape. Makes no sense to add lego shapes. The rest of the body and the rear are attractive, but the front ruins it (for me at least).
That is what is called Kia's "Tiger" grille. I has become a recent company trademark. I agree on the headlight shapes, but note that Lexus did the same thing with the otherwise superb 4Gen ES.
Also strange the center stack is missing a pillar on one side. BMW pulls it off a little better, but here it looks like someone yanked out a pillar and left the center junk hanging on for dear life.
Right off-hand, that looks to me like it was done for driver-comfort.....to give those who like to sit up closer to the wheel, maybe with bended knees, a little more room without one's right knee impacting (or banging into) the pillar for the center stack.
Prediction: giant d-pillar is going to be a huge blind spot. How hard would it have been to just extend the side windows a little further back? Doing that would have fixed any blind spot issue and make the small SUV appear longer on the outside, win-win.
I think we're going to have to get used to larger D-pillars, because of the Federal Roll-Over standards for SUVs. To an extent at least, that has required thicker and/or stronger roof pillars.
That's also a common reaction on other forums....the Tribeca connection. The original Tribeca, though, didn't keep the trapezoid/wing-shaped front end very long. It was quickly re-designed, and STILL didn't sell.
I don't think we will see a sales problem with the new Sportage, though, as people seem to be grabbing up new Kias left and right, except for the big luxury sedans. The brand is rapidly becoming one of the current success stories of the auto market.
Last edited by mmarshall; Aug 28, 2015 at 01:07 PM.
That's also a common reaction on other forums....the Tribeca connection. The original Tribeca, though, didn't keep the trapezoid/wing-shaped front end very long. It was quickly re-designed, and STILL didn't sell.
The odd schnoz was only half the problem. The original B9 Tribeca had an anemic 3.0L EZ30 H6 that was quickly replaced with the stronger 3.6L EZ36 H6
2017 Kia Sportage
