Kia has provided the first official look at its fourth-generation Sportage ahead of its world debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September, via these three official sketches.
The images show the new Sportage – due on sale in Australia early next year – will be even more stylish than the handsome MkIII model it replaces.
Kia has said very little about its all-new Sportage, which shares its platform with sister Korean brand Hyundai's new Tucson mid-size SUV and is claimed to wear "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," said Kia today.
As indicated by the heavily stylised interior sketch that leads the trio of sketches, the new Sportage will also bring a fresh focus on interior design, which Kia says will be its best ever.
"Inside, the all-new Sportage marries simple, modern style with rich material quality for Kia’s most refined, highest-quality cabin to date.
"With the design of the new model led by the brand’s European design centre – located in Frankfurt – the all-new Sportage represents the future face of Kia."
While the exterior sketches clearly borrow plenty of artistic license, the less adventurous design of the actual production car has already been seen in a number of previous spy pics and images of a scale model that were apparently released by mistake.
The images of the silver car you see here appeared on the public website of German model car business Squir.com before being quickly removed late last month, but not before they were published by a number of European media outlets.
They show a vehicle that evolves markedly from the highly regarded third-generation Sportage designed by former Kia designer Massimo Frascella, who is now at Jaguar Land Rover, under the direction of Hyundai-Kia design guru Schreyer.
Similar to the ones you can see in the sketch, the model's high-set headlights flank a revised version of Kia’s ‘tiger nose’ grille and sit atop a new take on the company's quad-beam fog light bezels.
Our information is the Mk4 Sportage will feature significant drivetrain updates including downsized turbocharged engines and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, at least for Europe.
Under the bonnet, the new-generation Sportage will get improved 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre Hyundai group four-cylinder engines for the diesel line-up, while the petrol side is expected to add the all-new 1.2-litre T-GDi engine, an upgraded 1.6-litre unit as well as a 2.0-litre turbo.
The current Sportage -- Kia’s second best selling model in Australia behind the Cerato small car -- is offered in Australia with a choice of 135kW 2.0-litre turbo-diesel and 122kW 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated petrol four-cylinder engines.
It comes in four model grades, is available as both front- and all-wheel drive, with six-speed manual and automatic transmissions in a price range from $25,990 to $41,590.