Kia Sportage to get a more macho image

YOU CAN be sure the finished product will look quite different to this idealised artist’s sketch, but the drawing does indicate an interestingly Porsche-like design direction for the next-generation Kia Sportage being launched at next month’s Frankfurt motor show.

The raised bonnet edges are distinctly reminiscent of a Macan or Cayenne, and like the Porsches the headlamps are mounted reasonably far up the bonnet, away from the grille. It suggests a decidedly bolder and more masculine look for Kia’s popular SUV, which also adopts a more distinctive version of Kia’s signature ‘tiger’ grille flanked by aggressive-looking fog-light housings.

The fourth-generation Sportage represents the future face of Kia, according to the very short press release that accompanied the draw- ings. In Kia’s words the vehicle, which was styled in the brand’s European design centre in Frankfurt, has “a bold, progressive design, which exudes power and agility from every angle. The dynamic compact SUV styling creates visual harmony out of the tension between bold, precise feature lines and dramatically-sculptured bodywork.”

Imagine it with doors, larger windows and smaller wheels and you’ll get the idea.

The Korean carmaker adds that the newly-designed cabin will marry simple, modern style with rich material quality for Kia’s most refined, highest-quality cabin to date.

Technical details will only be revealed at the September 15 Frankfurt show launch. Although an exact date has not yet been confirmed, the new Sportage is likely to go on sale in South Africa early in 2016.