- The Kia Sportage is getting a new look for 2026.
- The interior will get some of Kia's latest goodies, too.
- The powertrains, however, won't change much (if at all).
The Kia Sportage is one of our favorite small SUVs on sale. The hybrid version has not one but two Edmunds Top Rated awards to its name for 2023 and 2024, and while we haven't begun judging for 2025, Kia's already looking even further ahead. Our spy photographers recently captured images of the 2026 Sportage with new headlights and taillights, along with minor tweaks to the bodywork.
Even though much of the design is still under wraps, from what we can see, it's clear Kia is unifying almost all of its models under one design ethos. In the past, Kias haven't always looked like each other — maybe the old Optima and Sorento shared a few bits here and there, but beyond that, there wasn't this level of cohesion. Now the K5, Carnival, Sorento, and both the upcoming K4 and this Sportage face-lift all have a unified identity. The vertical headlights and what we can safely assume will be orange daytime running lights (along with a more rugged front fascia) are all contemporary Kia design traits.
Aside from the changes to the bodywork, we also expect Kia to update the interior. The dashboard will likely use the same threaded screen idea — where a single panel will essentially stitch together both the instrument cluster and the infotainment screen — but the panel itself will be slimmed down. The Kia EV9 and Sorento both use a thinner, more squared-off panel for the displays, and it's likely this same part will be adapted to the Sportage. It also means the air vents will be reprofiled and repositioned to accommodate the new screen design.
One thing we believe won't change is the Sportage's powertrain availability. It's costly to recertify powertrains to ensure they meet emissions regulations, and since the Sportage already has a relatively robust lineup of engines on offer, we don't expect the lineup of four-cylinders (or the hybrid and plug-in hybrid) to change at all. That means you'll still get a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 187 horsepower and 178 lb-ft of torque mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission on the standard Spotage. Hybrid models will see their turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine paired to an electric motor that kicks out a total of 227 hp. The plug-in hybrid uses a larger battery for useful EV-only range; it produces a stout 261 hp.
Edmunds says
Expect the refreshed Sportage to make its debut later this year, with an on-sale date for 2026 models sometime in the summer of 2025.
from Edmunds.com Car News https://ift.tt/TY6b2Ww
