Kia has just enjoyed its best September yet in Britain, with 13,292 cars delivered. And the top model? The Sportage, which is selling better than ever in recently updated form.
Last month wasn’t quite a new record for this brand. That was set in March when Kia Motors (UK) Limited sold 14,787 vehicles. Nonetheless, 62,538 registrations for the year to date is an impressive tally and the brand is on course to at least attain its goal of 78,000 sales for 2014.
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Across Europe, the news is equally good. ACEA data for the first nine months show that in 30 EU and EFTA markets, Kia’s sales total was 272,600 versus 259,654 for the prior year. Dacia is often cited as one of the most successful brands but its number is 276,850, which demonstrate just how successful Kia has quietly become. Renault’s subsidiary has seen a 28.5% YoY rise in European sales, which Kia can’t match, however it is closing the gap to its owner: in the same period, Hyundai Motor Europe delivered 326,285 cars compared to 327,252 in the prior year.
If you want to know why Korea’s top two continue to have such success in this region, just look at how long rival models’ life cycles are by comparison. The Tiguan is the best example: it’s now reached its seventh year of production and will likely have another year or two to go. Kia also tends to launch cars which don’t date too much, and the mid-life refreshes mostly see more standard equipment added and better-feeling materials for the interior. The Sportage underlines that, and examples of the latest changes include things like a nicer looking ignition key, illuminated cupholders and soft-touch ‘nano’ paint applied to the dashboard and centre console – the very opposite of hard and grainy plastic.
Maybe others disagree but I think the styling of this model is spot-on. Let’s hope that Kia doesn’t start changing direction for the sake of it and instead just hones the spot-on proportions that most of its cars now have. To me, a Sportage competitor such as the RAV4 has gone backwards in the looks department over the last few generations, whereas the Kia is so far ahead of the ropey old first generation model it’s as if it’s from a different manufacturer entirely.
Unless you really need the extra torque of the 2.0-litre for towing, the 1.7-litre diesel is almost as good and you’d save a fair bit of cash too. As a family car, it really works, with quite a lot of headroom front and back and good views out thanks to big windows. The seven year warranty remains the brand’s trump card and for many people who don’t know much about Kia, it’s a strong reassurance.
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By GlobalDataThe Sportage is not without faults but none of them is major. The one thing that needs to be fitted as standard is an electric tailgate. Why? The handle is hidden from view but it’s so low down that dirt and spray soon covers it. A better idea would be to integrate it with the brand badge, as VW does on many of its cars. The test car had a full sized spare which makes it stand out from so many rival vehicles and for this, Kia should be congratulated. The boot floor is therefore relatively high but luggage capacity doesn’t suffer as there’s 564 cubic litres or 1,353 with the seats down.
The SL series (its development code) Sportage has been around since 2010 and had a slight restyle earlier this year for what Kia Motors Europe terms ‘model year 2014’, syncing with the system used by Kia Motors America.
KME has been selling this vehicle since August 2010 with the choice of 2.0-litre diesel and petrol engines. A 1.7-litre diesel and a direct injection 1.6-litre petrol were added a few months later. KMA has its own engine line-up and this consists of 2.4-litre normally aspirated and 2.0-litre turbo gasoline four-cylinder units.
The test car was a top-spec 2.0 CRDI KX4 AWD which is reflected in its list price of GBP29,505. But for that, you get pretty much everything you could think of as standard, including niceties such as a heated steering wheel which premium manufacturers will happily charge you for. There’s also a one-touch electric glass roof, leather upholstery and 18” alloy wheels (including the spare).
The intelligent all-wheel drive system is supplied by Magna Powertrain and is called Dymax. Normally, 100% of torque goes to the front wheels but this can be varied up to 60/40 front/rear so as to improve stability when cornering or else in slippery conditions. You can also switch to 4WD Lock mode via a dashboard button. This gives you a 50:50 torque split at speeds of up to 25mph.
The 181bhp/383Nm diesel, which is exclusive to KX4 trim, delivers a good mix of acceleration and economy. That’s proved by a Combined average of 39.2mpg, CO2 of 189g/km, a top speed of 121mph and 0-6-mph in 9.4 seconds. However, those numbers are for the six-speed automatic. Cheaper, smaller-engined manual versions obviously improve on those figures with a 135g/km C02 average for the 1.7-litre diesel manual.
I remember the first generation of this C segment SUV and now we’re in the last 12-18 months of the mark three model’s five-six year lifecycle. Sources have told me Sportage number four (project code: QL) should appear at the Frankfurt IAA in a year’s time and Europe’s model will once more be manufactured in Slovakia.
The QL will without doubt become the most successful Sportage yet. That will be due to a one-off factor of this being the most likely vehicle to be made at a forthcoming Mexican plant. Monterrey, in the northeastern state of Nuevo León, is due to open in the first half of 2016 and its initial annual capacity will be 300,000 units. The next generation model should also be made in South Korea, China (Dongfeng JV) and Slovakia, with CKD assembly in Malaysia by Naza.
With Kia and Hyundai (ix35) so strong in Europe’s C-SUV segment, it’s a wonder that neither has launched an attack on the likes of the Mokka, which Opel proudly announced earlier this week it had now taken its 300,000th order for. The ix25 is said to be on the way to Europe, having been launched in China earlier in October. For the moment, it’s built only by the Beijing Hyundai joint venture but don’t be surprised to see Czaech production taking place in 2015. Kia too will be adding a B-SUV, its project code is KC and it should be announced in China some time soon. It’s said to resemble a smaller Sportage so if that’s the case, it’s hard to see how it can possibly fail both there, and in Europe, where it should also be manufactured.
