Petrol-electric version of popular mid-size SUV to take on Toyota RAV4 Hybrid, followed by hybrid Carnival
The Kia Sportage Hybrid is planning to muscle in on the petrol-electric high ground currently dominated in the mid-size SUV space by the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid.
The Sportage Hybrid is being readied for an Australian arrival as soon as late 2023 or early 2024.
But don’t expect RAV4-rivalling prices, with Kia conceding it can’t match the slim premiums attached to petrol-electric versions of Toyota’s popular medium SUV.
Instead, the emphasis will be on technology and performance – two advantages the still-fresh Sportage arguably has over its Toyota counterpart.
Not to be confused with the plug-in hybrid (PHEV) version, which was detailed 12 months ago and is unlikely for Australia, the plugless hybrid was revealed in mid-2021 before the latest fifth-generation Kia Sportage arrived Down Under in late 2021.
The Sportage Hybrid shares its petrol-electric drivetrain with the larger Sorento Hybrid.
That means a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine combined with an electric motor mounted directly to the six-speed automatic transmission. It makes a combined 169kW and 350Nm and will be offered in front- and all-wheel drive configurations.
Fuel use is claimed at 5.9L/100km, which makes it more efficient than other petrol-powered versions, but thirstier than the hybrid RAV4, which uses as little as 4.7L/100km according to government-supplied figures.
Kia Australia product planning manager Roland Rivero says the Sportage hybrid will enter production for Australia on November 1 and is likely to roll into dealerships early in 2024.
And unlike the Sorento Hybrid, which is offered only in premium-priced GT-Line trim, the Sportage will also get a more basic version.
“We’ve got four [Sportage Hybrid] variants [S, SX, SX+ and GT-Line]. We’ll probably offer at least two [with the hybrid drivetrain],” says Rivero.
SX and GT-Line appear the most likely choices and although the Sportage Hybrid won’t be a bargain, Kia’s product planning chief says they will appeal to business buyers.
“There’s a massive fleet appetite for hybrid,” says Rivero, who confirmed the first Sportage Hybrid will be more expensive than the all-wheel drive diesel versions that currently top the Sportage line-up.
He says there will be a similar price gap to the circa-$4000 premium that Kia charges for the Sorento Hybrid over the diesel model.
That suggests something like $46,000 before on-road costs if it was offered in an SX trim level and $56,000 for a GT-Line Sportage Hybrid.
At those prices, the Sportage Hybrid won’t get close to matching the $39,050 plus ORCs starting price of the RAV4 Hybrid, which will be its most direct rival.
“We can’t match $2000 premium to a hybrid,” says Rivero. “We haven’t been in that game long enough to amortise costs as long as Toyota has – we can’t achieve it.”
Not that it bothers Kia locally. Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith says the emphasis for the brand in Australia is on EVs.
“We need to go to our strength and our strength is electric,” he says. It helps that Kia has a nice headstart on top-seller Toyota with battery-electric vehicles.
“If people want to buy our hybrids then great, but probably more emphasis will be on EVs.”
Meredith says hybrid “plays a part in the story”, but that “I’d rather get critical mass in EVs than hybrids”.
Further afield, Kia is understood to be readying a hybrid version of its Carnival people-mover in a move that would also attract fleets and give the Korean brand a rival to fledgling Chinese electric people-mover options such as the LDV MIFA 9.
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Keyword: Kia Sportage Hybrid confirmed for Oz