Heels & Horsepower Magazine

Kia pulls the cover off the all-new Sportage, the ultimate urban SUV

The fifth-generation Kia Sportage has been carefully crafted from the ground up and features premium safety features to make it the ultimate family SUV.

The all-new Sportage symbolises the pioneering DNA of the Kia brand. The past success of the Sportage is deeply rooted in a mindset of constant reinvention. Under the new Kia brand, a fifth generation Sportage once again brings an innovation that elevates the brand to the next level. 

Advanced powertrains – the heart of all-new Sportage

The all-new Sportage will be launched with a comprehensive range of powerful, responsive and efficient powertrains, including the very latest-generation clean gasoline and diesel IC engine technology.

A high-tech 1.6-litre TGDI powertrain will be offered in the all-new Sportage line-up, generating 132 kW and 265 Nm of torque.  

The 1.6-liter TGDI engine is mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (7DCT), while a 6-speed manual transmission is also available. 

Also included in the launch line-up is a new and highly efficient R2.0-liter diesel engine featuring an advanced variable geometry turbocharger that helps it to develop 137 kW and 416 Nm of torque.

The 2.0 four-cylinder unit has been designed in response to tightening emissions regulations and features an array of sophisticated technologies to drive down emissions output and enhance real-world fuel efficiency. The new R2.0-liter diesel engine comes with an extensively re-engineered 8-speed automatic transmission.

Leading the way in safety

With safety being a top priority during development, the fifth-generation all-new Sportage is one of the safest vehicles in its class; safety restraint and structure system applications, including driver airbag, passenger airbag, side curtain airbags and low-side airbags. 

The all-new Sportage feature Kia’s acclaimed Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) technology helps the Sportage to avoid potential hazards.  This includes:

  1. Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA),which helps avoid collisions with objects in front of the vehicle while driving.
  2. Highway Driving Assist (HDA),which helps maintain a set distance and speed from the vehicle ahead when driving on a highway, while also helping centre the all-new Sportage in its lane. 
  3. Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control (NSCC),which helps drive the all-new Sportage at a safe speed on the highway using real-time navigation data.
  4. Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist (BCA),which provides a warning to the driver when operating the turning signal to change lanes, should there be a risk of collision with a rearside vehicle.
  5. Remote Smart Parking Assist (RSPA),which helps the driver to remotely park or exit a parking spot from outside the vehicle

Due for global market launch later this year, more information on the all-new Sportage will be made available in due course. 

Kia teases first images of all-new Sportage

Kia has revealed the first official teaser images of the all-new Sportage – the fifth incarnation of the brand’s most popular SUV model.

Kia has revealed the first official teaser images of the all-new Sportage – the fifth incarnation of the brand’s most popular SUV model.

Due to be revealed in July in Korea, the new Sportage has been carefully crafted to establish new benchmarks in its segment – for its advanced exterior and interior design, connectivity tech, and responsive yet highly efficient powertrains. 

Revealed earlier this year to great acclaim from the design community, Kia’s new design language – Opposites United – is at the core of the Sportage, influencing every aspect of its appearance and character. The early images hint at an assertive and cutting-edge presence for the SUV – paying homage to nature’s perfection and simplicity whilst connecting with the brand’s new design direction.

With the new Sportage, we didn’t simply want to take one step forward, but rather move to a completely different level within the SUV class

Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Design Center

Muscular exterior and innovative interior 

The new Sportage has a muscular stance and a strong yet refined silhouette. Notable new details include the crisp, taught character lines that ripple across the surfaces. The front creates an instant and thought-provoking statement, with a detail-orientated black grille graphic spanning the width of the face. At the rear, muscular shoulder lines drop gently to meet slim daytime-running lamps, which flank the new Kia logo and Sportage emblem.

The interior design sketch reveals a driver-orientated space that plays with boldness in character, softness in qualities and innovation in technology. At the core is a beautifully sculpted integrated curved display.

“Taking inspiration from an ethos we created where nature meets modernity, the new Sportage challenges design norms with an adventurous yet contemporary exterior and a beautifully detailed and pioneering interior,” said Karim Habib, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Design Center. “With the new Sportage, we didn’t simply want to take one step forward, but rather move to a completely different level within the SUV class.”

More details regarding design features of the all-new Sportage will be unveiled in the coming weeks. 

Meet the 2020 AutoTrader Car of the Year Semi-Finalists

South Africa’s premiere motoring journalists have voted. So too have members of the public. The votes have been tallied and 25 semi-finalists have been announced for the 2020 AutoTrader South African Car of the Year competition.

One of these semi-finalists will win the most sought-after title in the South African automotive industry, that of 2020 AutoTrader South African Car of the Year. 

“The 25 vehicles hail from 16 different car manufacturers, and they include anything and everything from family runabouts to sports cars, and from luxurious sports utility vehicles (SUVs) to bakkies,” reveals Rubin van Niekerk, chairman of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ).

Some of the vehicles on the list have already won major international accolades. The Jaguar I-Pace, for instance, made history when it won an unprecedented three awards – World Car of the Year, World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year – at the 2019 World Car Awards. “Were it to win the 2020 AutoTrader South African Car of the Year title, it would be the first electric car to take top honours in the 34-year old competition,” notes AutoTrader CEO, George Mienie.

In most competitions around the world, journalists don’t get together to physically drive the vehicles

– GEORGE MIENE, CEO – AUTOTRADER

The Mazda3 has recently been named Supreme Winner at the 2019 Women’s World Car of the Year Awards. It also scooped the 2019 Thailand Car of the Year and the 2020 China Car of the Year trophies, while the Toyota Corolla has recently been named a 2020 European Car of the Year finalist.

AutoTrader became the title sponsor for the competition, organised by the SAGMJ, in 2019 – and it has facilitated the successful consumer vote. According to Mienie, public interest in the competition is intense. “This year, the number of public votes by AutoTrader’s car buying consumers has more than doubled. This is a clear indication that South Africans want to have their say in these top motoring awards,” he comments.

And which vehicle did they vote for? “Of all the semi-finalists, the car that received the most public votes was the Mazda3,” Mienie reveals.

Now that the semi-finalists have been named, voting for the finalists will commence; for the first time in the competition’s history, consumers will be able to vote alongside motoring experts. A special event in Johannesburg on December 4 will reveal which cars make up the 14 finalists.

This event will be followed by the test days in March 2020, when 27 of South Africa’s top motoring journalists (our Editor, Vuyi Mpofu being among them) will put the vehicles through their paces. According to Van Niekerk, this is one of the most important components of the competition. “In most competitions around the world, journalists don’t get together to physically drive the vehicles. They simply score them electronically or on paper. In South Africa however, journalists spend two full days evaluating every single aspect of each finalist – from design, technology and engineering to handling, safety and value for money; followed by the final scoring. Our methodology is both thorough and extremely scientific, and yields the most deserving category and overall winners,” he added.

Commenting on the list of Finalists, Vuyi said she was delighted to see the Mahindra in the running, adding that the brand had worked hard to establish itself in the market, “Making it onto the list is not only a huge vote of confidence for Mahindra, but also a clear demonstration that even though South Africans are extremely particular about the brands they drive, they are fair and open to acknowledging vehicles which are not ‘main-stream’. 

The category and overall winners will be announced at an event hosted by AutoTrader in April 2020.   Herewith a list of the 2020 AutoTrader South African Car of the Year semi-finalists

Audi A1

Audi Q3

BMW 3 Series

BMW 8 Series

BMW X5

Citroën C3 Aircross

Ford Ranger

Ford Ranger Raptor

Hyundai Atos

Hyundai Santa Fe

Jaguar I-PACE

Kia Sportage

Mahindra XUV300

Mazda3

Mercedes-AMG CLS 53

Mercedes-Benz A-Class Sedan

Mercedes-Benz GLE

Mitsubishi Triton

Peugeot 5008

Subaru Forester

Suzuki Swift Sport

Toyota Corolla Hatch

Toyota RAV4

Toyota Supra

Volkswagen T-Cross