Kia Releases Photos of Frankfurt-Bound ’16 Sportage

Kia releases photos of the new ’16 Sportage compact CUV, which makes its global debut Sept. 15 at the Frankfurt auto show.

The automaker also held a domestic preview of the Korea-spec version of the new Sportage on Aug. 27 at the Namyang R&D center, where photographs were not allowed.

Opinions by many who saw the vehicle in action at Namyang were that the front end resembles that of the popular Porsche Macan, which is enjoying strong sales in Korea.

The ’16 Sportage is being produced at Kia’s Gwangju plant in Korea and at the Zilina plant in Slovakia.

The new vehicle will go on sale within a month in Korea and in early 2016 in Europe and major overseas export markets. In some markets the new entry will be tagged as a ’17 model.

The current Sportage also is in production in China and the new model eventually may transition into production there, Kia sources tell WardsAuto.

The Sportage mainly was designed at Kia’s European design center in Frankfurt, with strong support from Namyang and the Kia California design center. Vehicle development took place at Namyang.

The Kia tiger grille positively identifies the Sportage front end but headlights no longer are integrated. The new frontal look, with headlamps set back in the sweeping fenders that overlie  larger wheel arches is prompting comparisons to the Macan, although the lower half of the front end still bears Kia characteristics.

While Korean domestic, European and U.S. exterior specifications are virtually identical, drivetrains, electronic controls and interior appointments will differ from region to region.