Latest spy shot of the 2011 Kia Sportage, codenamed SL, reveals attractive front fascia design.
Our popular spy shots reports from the past couple were mostly based on Cadenza sedan and new Kia Venga mini-MPV appearances, but since both models already made their official premieres, our attention is now slowly turning to Kias next “big thing”, the all-new, 2011 Kia Sportage compact crossover.
The 2011 Kia Sportage is expected to make its official domestic debut in the second quarter of next year with worldwide sales scheduled for the second half of 2010.
As mentioned in our previous post, where we showed you exclusive spy shots revealing the interior of new Kia Sportage, the new model will undergo a major overhaul, which includes complete design makeover and new power-train technology.
The 2011 Kia Sportage will share most of the technical components with its sibling model from Hyundai, the all-new Tucson crossover. The Tucson made its official US premiere at L.A. auto show last week and goes on sale across the U.S., according to Hyundai Motor America, already this month.
Both crossover vehicles, the all-new Tucson and Kia’s forthcoming Sportage, will sit on the same platform and will share major technical components, including a range of four-cylinder engines, manual and automatic transmissions and other tech gadgets. They will however, differentiate by their exterior and interior designs and possibly, with ther suspension set ups.
As you know, the Korean auto giant, the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, tries to differentiate their products as much as possible to avoid competition between the models, therefore, in addition to different design language, you can also expect the Sportage to have a little firmer and sportier suspension set up when compared to new Tucson.
The image we have here confirms the theory. The exterior look, including the front fascia design of new Sportage is sleeker than that from Tucson.
At first glance, it looks pretty close to Sorento’s front-end design, but when you pay attention to details, you can notice the front fascia design is not simply copied from larger Sorento, but rather tweaked to look even more exciting.
The new Sportage does borrow Kia’s latest design language and signature elements from Kia‘s latest products. Those include massive. chrome surounded, front signature grille with the shape of tiger nose, swept-back headlights and LED technology. This styling trend has begun with the introductions of facelifted Magentis sedan and Soul crossover a while ago and has been continued with just recently launched Kia Cadenza premium-sedan, Venga mini-MPV and Sorento CUV.
To see larger image of the 2011 Kia Sportage -SL, please, head over to this website.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:48 am
After this comes out, there is no reason to compare the new Sorento to a CRV anymore.
December 15th, 2009 at 2:12 am
I think it looks a heck of alot better than the Soul…
December 15th, 2009 at 5:45 am
The original form is a “Kia Kue” concept, Right?
I hope they keep Kue’s FANTASTIC rear design.
diseno-art.com/images_2/Kia_Kue_Concept_rear.jpg
December 15th, 2009 at 5:47 am
And, “Kia Kue” name is a sound good, so futuristic.
They Kia brand want become a “Young, + Future tech” brand, right?
I think “Kue” name is futuristic and sound good.
December 15th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Yes, the Sorento was modeled after the KND-4 and the Sportage after the Kue
December 15th, 2009 at 7:04 am
You got a point Sorento.
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KYUNDAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
December 15th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
looks are one thing but whats the mile per gallon of gas ,
December 15th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Without question, this new Sportage will get at least of 34 MPG with the 2.0L engine.
December 15th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Cool that’s more efficient than that new Equinox GM keeps bragging about. Why is it that Hyundai/Kia has very good mpg, but that don’t brag about them? They should it could increase sales.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
looks really mean!
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good thing with HKAG is that, the engines are fuel efficient and generate good POWER!
December 15th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Looks even better that the new sorento. quantum leap from the previus design!!!!!
December 16th, 2009 at 12:22 am
The reason GM pushes fuel economy in their cars is because they have nothing else to offer.
December 16th, 2009 at 12:25 am
I know but it is so annoying listening to them always blabber about those GMs being more fuel efficient than Honda Toyota. I feel like pushing the mute button once those commercial come up. Once that Cruze commercial come out, two weeks later, I’ll be able to know all the words to the commercial.
December 16th, 2009 at 12:43 am
The Cruze is the most boring looking car GM has had in a long time. EVEN I would buy a Honda over the worthless junk GM products infesting the market.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Its about being informend, etc… I think the Company expects those who are well informed and desire quality to shop with the brand, They rather have quality than volume. GM and Toyota are Volume brands, Hyundai/KIA like VW/Audi are going to be more about the feel of quality.
December 16th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Besides the name which I really hate, this small SUV looks like quite the car to beat
if it’s say 2.0 litre CRDi with a 6 spd auto + some kind of low range 4wd gear and say 3,500lbs or less I don’t know how it can’t succeed with competitve pricing
December 16th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
there won’t be low range. its a crossover meant to be driven on road more than off-road. technically, a crossover is a tall CAR with more ground clearance.
December 16th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
What Greg said: “The Cruze is the most boring looking car GM has had in a long time. EVEN I would buy a Honda over the worthless junk GM products infesting the market.” Amen to that. All the Cruze really is when it comes to design is the 2006 Hyundai Sonata’s greenhouse. And besides GM is playing themselves, the longer it takes for them to bring the already 1 year old car to come over here, the worse it’s going to get. Did anyone see the Elantra on spy shots yet?
December 16th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Some crossovers can handle some off roadness except the Chevy Treverse GM keeps bragging about having more interior volume than the Highlander and Pilot. Sure that may be true but what but I hate how the seating is arranged. I like my seating in SUVs or CUVS to be 2+2+3 not 2+3+2. I like being reminded I’m driving a CUV by my seating not just because I don’t have sliding doors. That thing may be the biggest and most fuel efficient CUV in its class but in design wise, all I see that looks good is the headlights and tailights. Chevy’s signautre grilles suck too. I do however think it was impressive to take the Mercedess C class’ headlights and put it on that Mailibu they keep on bragging about.
December 16th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
The Fiat Doblo’ copied the the Kia Soul’s design. Except the grill came from Audi.
December 16th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
The Fiat Doblo’ copied the the Kia Soul’s design. Except the grille came from Audi.
December 16th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
The Fiat Doblo’ copied the the Kia Soul’s design. Except the grille came from Audi and it’s bigger. But I’m no fool I can get cars from A to Volvo.
December 16th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
OFF TOPIC:
I have pricing for the 2011 Sorento for the USA market!!!
Base: $20,790
LX 4×2: $23,190
LX 4×4: $24,890
EX I4 4×2: $25,390
EX I4 4×4: $27,090
EX V6 4×2: $27,990
EX V6 4×4: $29,690
Fully Loaded EX V6 4×4 (most expensive model): $34,390
December 16th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Wow, isn’t $34,390 quite expensive for a CR-V and Rave 4 rival? So this Sportage will be in the small CUV class.
December 16th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
The Doblo looks nothing like the Soul…suggesting that is seriously disrepectful to the Soul LOL. The Doblo is HORRID lololol
December 17th, 2009 at 3:02 am
JTZ, the Americans will be competitive, but they will be behind everybody else. The reason Quality. Their quality is so piss poor that they have to keep the cars back or 2-3 years from the US market to make sure they run right.
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In 16 months the Rio will have more HP and MPG than the Fiesta. That Fiesta came out 2 years too late. The Sonata will run Circles around the Buick Regal, more power, more MPG that Regal has no chance. The Cruze has that XFE version with the 1.4 Turbo that gets 44 MPG, but what people dont realize is that the Cruze’s other engine variants are way underpowered. They have a 1.6 with 118 HP. The interior is about a step behind the Forte, but great for a GM small car product. The Cruze is another car that should have been out yesterday, but will be out in 2011.
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By 2011 everybody else’s products would have cught up and passed these guys, and Hyundai/KIAs goal is to be leader of the small car pack in 2011.
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2011 is the year of the small car as 95% of all small car product thats on US roads will be redesigned.
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There will also be about 15-20 new small cars on the road as well. New Nissan B-Segment, BMW 1 and 0 series hatches, Merc A and B Class, Audi A2, Suzuki Swift, Cadillac ATS, Buick Astra, Subaru Justy, VW Polo, Mitsubishi Colt, Chrysler/FIAT Small Cars.
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If you like small cars wait until 2011-2012 becuase its going to be a banquet at that time, and the Rio and Accent must Deliver.
December 17th, 2009 at 3:04 am
2011 will also be the year when 40 MPG becomes the new 30 MPG.
December 17th, 2009 at 4:32 am
” HyundaiSmoke Says:
December 17th, 2009 at 3:04 am
2011 will also be the year when 40 MPG becomes the new 30 MPG.”
I just hope the cars won’t be plastic death traps. We will probably see more diesels on the road..
December 17th, 2009 at 5:31 am
Actually Chajee, there will still hardly be any diesels on the road. All of the makes are either going to smaller displacements like the Germans, Japanese and Americans, or GDIs and Turbos like the Americans and Koreans.
December 17th, 2009 at 5:47 am
These are going to be some very advanced little cars as well Chagjee, about 25 of them including our small car products will be made or score 5 stars in crash testing.
December 17th, 2009 at 6:57 am
HyundaiSmoke, I’m going to have to disagree with you on the Cruze’s interior. It puts the Forte (and every other small car for that matter) to shame. Hopefully Kia will redesign the Forte’s interior at the refresh.
December 17th, 2009 at 8:13 am
I dont think so, Nick. That Elantra has a very nice leather Interior in some of the Trims, the Impreza has a very nice interior, the Mazda 3 have a very nice interior.
December 17th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Still have to contend with Ford Duramax’s and the Dodge Dually with a Cummins still on the Road..40mpg and Death if you get hit by one of these..Look at the Smart Car videos and testing..There going to be a give and take..
December 17th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Yeah, but you might as well give up driving altogether if you’re gonna worry about getting hit by a Dodge Ram. I say the more small cars the better hence my love of Mitsu and Kia. The Fiesta is at least progress from the domestics towards offering Americans a viable small car with decent gas mileage. Ford could do better but I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for them when my Korean and Japanese friends will do the same thing with better body design, Warranties and quality. Ruminate on that and you will understand better why the domestics are up a crick without a decent wooden or aluminum paddle, men.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:16 am
You got a point Bryan. These small cars today are Modern marvels. Bryan its strange that Ford Boasts the Fiesta in class leading fuel economy as a sales platform, yet in 2011 there will be 20 cars with equal or better than Fiesta Mileage.
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The only thing on that Rio thats Plastic is the Front and rear bumper. Then again everything including your big cars are made with plastic bumpers and its been that way for the last 20 years. However, behind that plastic bumper there’s a reinforced steel beam to absorb crashes. GM and a few other makes still uses Aluminum with styrofoan stuffed inside of the casing.
December 19th, 2009 at 2:32 am
I read that the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky used an all-new tubing cage and they put the body panels on that. It was a partly pitch-patched design, not conventional in it’s body sections at all. Not pillared like a conventional car at all. From Bob Lutz and GM. I actually kind of like the Solstice, not as much the Sky. Pontiac’s dead, isn’t Saturn going out soon, as well?
December 19th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Yeah and now Saab has joined Saturn and Pontiac in the sky.
December 19th, 2009 at 2:51 am
I wonder when Saab’s funeral services are? Anyone know?
December 29th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
“jtz Says: December 16th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Wow, isn’t $34,390 quite expensive for a CR-V and Rave 4 rival? So this Sportage will be in the small CUV class.”
The CR-V doesn’t even come CLOSE to $34,000+ in the US. You would have to be an idiot to even pay 30K OTD for a loaded CR-V with nav.
FYI: The upcoming Sportage is about 10 inches shorter than the CR-V and over 10 inches shorter than the RAV4.
December 29th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
So what the CR-V is shorter than the Rave4 and they are in the same class so what’s your point. The Sportage is in the same class as them. It’ too big to be in the Scion XB class ain’t it? So CR-V class it is.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Yeah Sportage is in the same class as CR-V and Rav4. The Sportage like the Hyundai Tuscon has gotten bigger. The Current Gen Sportage is tiny, because it came out in a era where the RAV 4 and CR-V were tiny as well. The RAV 4 and CR-V are about 2 years ahead of the Sportage in the redesign schedule. A bad competitive advantage for KIA as CR-V and Rav 4 can just look at the sportage and outclass it when they get redone in 2013.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Right the Sportage and last generation Tucson had only a few months comepete with the tiny Rav4 and that CR-V. When the 2003 Sorento arrived, people were not confused that the Rav4 and Sorento were not in the same class. When the Sportage dabuted, it had little time to compete with the little Rav4 for like 6 months. When the Rav4 got big, the sorento was then easily mistaken for a little SUV and not a midsize SUV. That’s why the Sorento is offen mistaken for a RAV4 rivel because it’s grown in size. Regardless how small the 11′ Sorento is, it is a midsize SUV giving out more horses not only than the Rav4 but its bigger brother the highlander as well. When it was a bof it had a towing capacity that was just about equal to the Jeep Grandcherokee so if Kia designed the Sorento be a rav-4 rival, why does it have such a challenging engine and features in the Highlander’s class?.
December 30th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
People aren’t confused that the MDX and Lexus RX are in the same class even though the RX is bigger.
December 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
The Sorento is a midsize CUV. The Sportage has always been classified as a Compact SUV/CUV. The wheel base of the Sportage is about that of a Forte (Compact, C-Segment). The Sorento (2011) has about the same wheel base as the Optima (Midsize, D-Segment). The new Borrego and Cadenza (Large, E-Segment) have approximately the same wheelbase, too.
December 30th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
I said “I wonder when Saab’s funeral services are? Anyone know?” I spoke too soon the Borrego is deceased for 2010. Oh well, I haven’t seen any articles yet that supports what greg said about the Borreog being a CUV by 2011 though. I believe him though something is happening to the Borrego because they are still testing the FCEV. Is that ironic or what? At least the Koreans quickly realized the problem in a year compared to Jeep who waited 5 years to kill the Commander.
December 31st, 2009 at 5:35 am
What’s happening is that the FCEV keeps getting smaller and less expensive to make, and in all reality, Kia is testing it in most, if not all of their vehicles. Kia can’t sell just an FCEV Borrego, they have to be able to sell FCEV in all of their vehicles at a low price. The consumer should be able to choose an “FCEV Package” (like they can choose a “Luxury Package”) on any Kia vehicle, and the “FCEV Package” should not cost more than $10,000. So, in theory, using the current and aforementioned pricing scheme you could buy a Forte EX with Premium, Leather and FCEV packages for $29,590. That is the ultimate goal.
December 31st, 2009 at 5:36 am
What’s happening is that the FCEV keeps getting smaller and less expensive to make, and in all reality, Kia is testing it in most, if not all of their vehicles. Kia can’t sell just an FCEV Borrego, they have to be able to sell FCEV in all of their vehicles at a low price. The consumer should be able to choose an “FCEV Package” (like they can choose a “Luxury Package”) on any Kia vehicle, and the “FCEV Package” should not cost more than $10,000. So, in theory, using the current and aforementioned pricing scheme you could buy a Forte EX with Premium, Leather and FCEV packages for $29,590. That is the ultimate goal.
December 31st, 2009 at 7:25 am
I heard GM is trying to give potential Saab buyers more time.
January 3rd, 2010 at 1:26 am
What I want to know is what is going on with all of these FWD four cylinder 2010 Sportages? Who is Kia planning to sell these to? We won’t order a four cylinder Sportage because the only time it leaves the lot is for a test drive, only for the customer to be disappointed and step up to a V6. It can take upwards of five months to sell ONE four cylinder Sportage. We can’t get the V6 Sportages fast enough. The only way Kia is going to dump all of these 2010 I4 Sportages is to put a massive rebate on them. Do any other dealerships have the same problem with I4 Sportages too? The only people that end up buying ours are parents for their 16 year old kids.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
Greg, we have a similar problem at our dealership here in Kaysville, Utah but it’s more focused on the FWD. No one really wants to buy a SUV/CUV that doesn’t have either AWD/4WD (since that’s the biggest draw to get one vs. a car).
January 7th, 2010 at 12:54 am
You can only get the 4WD with a 5 speed on the I4 Sportage, so I could see where that would be an issue.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
We have the same problem. I had to laugh a little at the 2WD/AWD ratio of Sorento. Kia thinks it is going to sell. Something like 60% FWD. I live in the north of the US, and there is no way that is going to happen up here!
January 13th, 2010 at 4:41 am
I bet this has a weaker I4 engine than the Hyundai Tucsan?
January 13th, 2010 at 5:52 am
Doubt it. The Tucson doesn’t have direct injection – SL does.
February 3rd, 2010 at 12:25 pm
Greg, where are you located? I am in the Northern US and sell 10-15 4cyl 4×2 automatic model new Sportage per month. All in the advertising strategy, my friend. Tell me where you are? Have sold 36 of this model in one month. It is possible!
April 30th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
I want a 2011 Sportage..Its a hellava lot more attractive than the previous model.Kia you did it!!