Next Kia Sportage to take tech lead

The all-new fifth-generation Kia Sportage SUV will be one of the most technologically advanced vehicles in its class when it rolls into Aussie dealerships later in 2021.

Kia Australia’s product planning chief Roland Rivero confirmed the new Sportage (codenamed NQ5) is now scheduled to arrive at the “tail end of 2021” – and that it will match the class leaders in terms of advanced safety technology and crash-test performance.

These will include the upcoming new-generation Hyundai Tucson with which the next Sportage will share its platform, as well as the nation’s top-selling mid-size SUV, the Toyota RAV4.

According to Rivero, increasingly stringent testing protocols under the influential Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) have made hi-tech safety systems “non-negotiable”.

“Those advanced active safety features are almost going to become a non-negotiable if you want to stay five-star,” he said.

“There’s still a goal post that’s moved in the 2020 ANCAP protocols. As you can understand, Europe will be targeting the maximum safety rating and we wouldn’t be any different.”

That means most if not all of the advanced safety features from the Hyundai Tucson and the new Kia Sorento will be offered, such as a 10.2-inch digital dashboard with live video feeds of the SUV’s blind spots, along with highway driving assistance and potentially even a remote-controlled parking function.

Here’s the expected list of safety features for the new 2021 Kia Sportage (as seen on Tucson):

• Lane Keeping Assist (LKA)
• Lane Following Assist (LFA)
• Blind-Spot View Monitor
• Blind-Spot Collision Warning (BCW)
• Highway Driving Assist (HDA)
• Forward Collision Avoidance Assist (FCA) with pedestrian detection (aka AEB)
• Surround View Monitor
• Reverse Parking Collision Avoidance Assist (RPCA)
• Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA)
• High Beam Assist (HBA)
• Driver Attention Warning (DAW)
• Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA) with Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist (RCCA)
• Advanced Smart Cruise Control (SCC) with Stop and Go
• Safe Exit Warning (SEW)

“With the new model coming, and we’ve already seen the new Tucson – and as you know they’re very closely related – it would be safe to assume a whole new Sportage isn’t that far away,” said Rivero.

We’ll get a better understanding of the new Kia Sportage’s design early next year, with

The rendering shown here by KDesign blends elements of the new Tucson and Sorento, but industry pundits also suggest the new Sportage will debut an all-new design direction for the brand.

Like Tucson and Sorento, the next Sportage will come with a full interior overhaul with an expected 10.2-inch central touch-screen infotainment system, wireless phone charging, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, advanced voice commands and more.

Unlike the Hyundai Tucson however, hybrid options are currently not on the agenda according to Rivero, who explained that even the mild-hybrid version is unlikely for Australia given that it will be built in Europe.

That means the Kia won’t have a direct rival for Toyota’s hugely popular hybrid RAV4.

Aussie-delivered Kia Sportage models will come from Kia’s Gwangju factory in South Korea, which won’t build hybrid models.

If the Tucson is any guide, the Sportage may get carryover engines, including a trio of four-cylinder engines: 2.0-litre petrol (114/192Nm) and turbo-diesels (136kW/400Nm) and a 2.4-litre petrol (135kW/237Nm).

The brand will have access to new 2.5-litre petrol and updated 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engines but these have been off limits to Kia thus far.

Front- and all-wheel drive layouts are expected, along with manual and automatic transmission choices, allowing the brand to continue pricing the Sportage under $30,000 at the entry level.

The biggest problem for the Sportage going forward is its all-new little brother, the Kia Seltos, which has outsold the Sportage in recent months.

But Rivero says the company is not concerned about having two similarly-sized SUVs on offer, and is still committed to bringing the new Sportage here.

To the end of August this year, the Seltos has found 5654 buyers compared to 6727 for Sportage.

“Our strategy of targeting Seltos to the private market and Sportage targeting predominantly fleet [government, corporate] buyers, we’ve done a very good job of sustaining Sportage in its place,” Rivero said.

“If anything, we’re probably one of the few markets that hasn’t seen a huge cannibalisation effect on Sportage as has happened in other markets that have introduced Seltos.

“With the support of our dealer network and our marketing, we’ve been able to co-sell both quite successfully. So the majority of the Seltos volume that has come through has been largely incremental.

“So I think the Sportage still has an important spot in our model range. It’s doing extremely well.”