2025 Kia Sportage: the last diesel medium SUV

The 2025 Kia Sportage is the last mainstream medium SUV in Australia available with a diesel engine, and yet despite the growing appetite for hybrids, the oil-burner is proving the most popular powertrain in the expansive Sportage portfolio.

Whereas Hyundai axed the diesel Tucson – the Sportage’s sister car – as part of last year’s mid-life update, Kia has opted to keep the lusty mill around in the name of customer choice, with the ‘CRDi’ being the only donk offered on every trim level.

Speaking to carsales this week at the facelifted Sportage’s media launch, local Kia executives revealed the turbo-diesel powertrain accounted for almost a third (30%) of all Sportage sales in 2024 and was tracking even better this year, with some 36 per cent of sales being powered by dinosaur juice.

“Our most popular model in the range is the GT-Line diesel,” marketing general manager Dean Norbiato said.

“We’re very much not stepping away from that fuel option, and if a customer wants diesel in that category … it is the only one left.”

But with the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) bearing down on the industry and now only weeks away from issuing penalties, questions have been raised as to how much longer the diesel Sportage can survive.

The answer, according to Kia Australia product chief Roland Rivero, is at least a couple more years given the mild, bordering on negligible, penalties it would attract in the first few years of NVES will be offset by the credits obtained from the strong-selling EV5 and EV3, not to mention the growing number of hybrids.

With the Sportage’s mid-life update finally bringing the option of all-wheel drive for hybrid buyers, odds are the petrol-electric set-up will eventually replace the all-paw-only diesel as the model’s premier powertrain, though cannibalisation between the two isn’t expected to be an issue short-term.

“For now, they’ll coexist,” Rivero said.

“Don’t know if we can continue that as NVES gets tougher and tougher, but then we’re also going to closely monitor government policy – if they stick to what they’ve said at the Bill, then I think we’re going to have to evaluate.”

For anyone needing a refresher, the Sportage is available with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine (115kW/192Nm), a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol (132kW/265Nm), a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol-electric hybrid (172kW/367Nm) and of course the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel (137kW/416Nm).

The base mill is only offered on the S and SX trims and is exclusively front-wheel drive, whereas the 1.6 turbo (SX+, GT-Line only) and diesel are all-paw only, meaning hybrid (SX, GT-Line) customers are the only ones with the choice of two- or all-wheel drive.

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