By: Jason Woosey
These official 'design renderings' released by Kia suggest that the Sportage will continue to be one of the boldest crossovers in its segment in its next generation.
The newcomer will be revealed to the world at the Frankfurt Motor Show on 15 September, essentially on home turf as its design was led by Kia's European studio located in that German city.
While the side and rear designs appear to be an evolution of the current model, with a few hints of the Sportspace Concept at the back, the front end takes a more radical departure with a large grille floating in the bumper beneath the headlights.
Its design should influence other models in the line-up too, as Kia says it represents the "future face of Kia".
The interior, in Kia's words, "marries simple, modern style with rich material quality for Kia's most refined, highest-quality cabin to date".
As this is a sneak preview there is no official word, as yet, on the technological front, but we'd expect it to have a similar engine line-up to the new Hyundai Tucson , which offers normally-aspirated and turbo-charged 1.6-litre petrol motors, with respective outputs of 99kW and 129kW, and an 85kW 1.7 turbodiesel.
Watch this space as all will be revealed in less than a month from now.