James Kon
Grand Motors Sdn Bhd, the exclusive distributor of Kia vehicles in the country, launched the new fifth generation Kia Sportage recently.
Meeting public expectation of a bigger and more innovative SUV, KIA Sportage possesses cutting-edge interior with integrated curved display centred on the driver as well as class-leading headroom, legroom and luggage space.
The all-new Sportage is the result of a collaborative effort between Kia’s main global design network in Korea, Germany, the United States (US) and China.
Inspired by nature, the new Sportage design takes a bold, sophisticated and organic form. The exterior of the all-new Sportage establishes new design boundaries and dramatically sets the tone for the next generation family.
Tense and crisp lines ripple along the refined body, amplifying dramatic styling tensions. At the same time, clean but muscular surfaces join forces with intricate graphics to give the SUV a dynamic and assertive road presence.
“Reinventing the Sportage gave our talented design teams a tremendous opportunity to do something new; to take inspiration from the recent brand relaunch and introduction of EV6 to inspire customers through modern and innovative SUV design. With the all-new Sportage, we didn’t simply want to take one step forward but instead move on to a different level in the SUV class,” said Senior Vice President and Head of Global Design Center of Kia Karim Habib.
Revealed earlier this year to great acclaim from the design community, Kia’s new design language – Opposites United – is at the core of the all-new Sportage, influencing every aspect of its appearance and character. The thought-provoking and daring philosophy is formed of five pillars: ‘Joy for Reason’, ‘Power to Progress’, ‘Technology for Life’, ‘Tension for Serenity’ and ‘Bold for Nature’. The last pillar – Bold for Nature – has profoundly influenced the design creation of new Sportage, embodying the natural world and creating a design identity that takes a daring, emotional, modern but organic form.
From the front, the all-new Sportage showcases a precise and intricate design form with its detailed-orientated black grille graphic stretching across the width of the face. The technical graphic pulls together the main frontal features of the Sportage, presenting a striking look.
The grille links Kia’s modern signature Tiger Nose grille to the distinctive futuristic-styled boomerang-shaped LED DRLs (daytime running lamps), which in turn create solid boundary lines for the striking Matrix LED head lamps.
Paying homage to its sports utility heritage, the side profile of the all-new Sportage creates a stirring road presence with taut lines cutting across clean but refined body surfaces that seamlessly blend the contrasting volumes together. The addition of a chrome beltline kicks up onto the rear of the Sportage and into the D-pillar, creating harmonious lines with the rear spoiler that further adds to the sporting pedigree of the car.
The all-new Sportage maintains its strong road presence at the rear with a muscular swooping fastback design that flows into the rear lamps, which have been crafted to give the impression that they cut into the body with fine precision.
The razor rear lamps are connected by a slim horizontal design, giving the Sportage a stunningly wide impression from the back.
Developed on a new architecture, the SUV combines a driver-centric design with a state-of-the-art premium interior featuring a swooping integrated curved display that houses the very latest advancements in connectivity tech. The interior of the all-new Sportage plays with boldness in character, softness in qualities and innovation in technology, creating a driver-orientated space that is truly state-of-the-art.
The cabin has been carefully crafted to fuse breakthrough tech with luxury features, premium materials and modern style.
At the centre of the Sportage’s modern cabin sits a beautifully sculpted integrated curved display with a slim touchscreen pad and finely detailed air vents. The curved display sweeps across the front of the interior, giving the cockpit dramatic width and depth.
The high-tech 12-inch touchscreen and advanced integrated controller act as the nerve centre for driver and passenger connectivity, functionality and usability needs.
Both systems have been created to be easy-to-use, highly intuitive and soft to touch. The 12-inch instrument cluster is equipped with the latest-generation full thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display for incredibly precise and clear graphics. With advanced and secure high-tech connectivity, all-new Sportage benefits from the latest over-the-air software and map updates.
An ergonomic centre console has been optimally positioned for the driver and front passenger, providing storage, operating system configuration, cupholders and soft-touch switches, the latter sitting on a raised profile alongside the shift-by-wire transmission dial. A smartphone charging bay offers high-speed wireless charging.
Throughout the cabin, the highest quality materials that are sumptuous to touch have been used, while dynamic colour options add vibrancy and energy. The driver and front passenger seats combine innovation and comfort in a sporting slim design. The all-new Sportage’s intelligent interior space, combining practicality, functionality and versatility, is underpinned by a compact wheelbase of 2,755mm, a width of 1,865mm, length of 4,660mm and height of 1,660mm. This has resulted in a package that is class-leading for legroom, headroom and luggage capacity.
The Sportage offers 1,050mm legroom for second-row passengers and 1,000mm headroom, while luggage capacity is 586 litres (VDA). To maximise convenience, the rear seats can fold down with the press of a button, allowing for a flat cargo space to be created seamlessly and quickly.
Fully immersive, in-car surround sound is delivered to the occupants via an industry-leading speaker Harman Kardon premium sound system.
In addition, for the first time in the Sportage’s history, a more confident model has been specifically designed to convey a more vigorous, versatile sensibility. The X-Line Sportage features a lugged bumper, side sill and curved roof rack. On the inside, a signature sage green colour is used, with bold quilting and black metal wood further bringing to life the model’s hardy persona.
The all-new Sportage also launches with a powerful, responsive and efficient powertrain, including the very latest-generation clean petrol engine technology.
From the very start of development, the new Sportage was intended to embrace the latest powertrain technology breakthroughs, making it one of the most efficient and eco-friendly SUVs available. A high-tech 2.0-litre Smartstream powertrain will be offered in the Sportage line-up, generating 156PS and 192Nm of torque. The 2.0-litre engine is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission in 2WD.
In terms of safety, the all-new Sportage is home to the very latest passive and active safety technologies. Underneath the sleek exterior design is a reinforced and lightweight body structure that has high torsional rigidity. It also has different safety restraint and structure system applications, including driver airbag, passenger airbag, side curtain airbags and low-side airbags (available in X-line variant). A Blind-Spot View Monitor (BVM) is also included on the all-new Sportage and further enhances safety and driver visibility when changing lanes by displaying a real-time rear-side image of the vehicle in the instrument cluster.
