A sneak peek of the Euro-spec 2011 Kia Sportage, which debuts in Geneva, next month.
My, how time flies when you’re working the auto show circuit. With the L.A. and Detroit events now past tense, we’re getting our reservations ready for Chicago, which stages its press preview next week. But the folks at Kia are looking even further ahead and have just tipped us off to the launch of the 2011 Kia Sportage, planned for the Geneva Motor Show, in March.
Like its bigger Korean sibling, Hyundai, Kia is trying to shift styling directions. Gone are the boxy derivative shapes of the past, it promises, touting the look of the 2011 Sportage as “embodying Kia’s newfound visual dynamism.”
That translates into a more wagon-like crossover, with a sweeping roof line, bold grille and over-sized fog lamp surrounds, among other details. The 2011 Kia Sportage is longer, lower and wider than the previous model, with more interior passenger and cargo space, as well.
The American version of the 2011 Kia Sportage debuts late this year.
The model shown here is the European spec, but it provides a fairly good representation of what we’ll be seeing in the States, when you adjust such things as bumpers to reflect American safety standards.
Beyond that, the automaker isn’t providing much in the way of details other than to say there will be a “variety” of engine options. In Europe, that will mean a mix of gasoline and diesel powertrains.
Here in the U.S., there seems little chance of getting any oil burners, but again, like its Korean partner, Kia has been putting a premium on fuel economy. We expect we’ll see a version of the 2.4 liter Theta II I-4, which recently debuted in Hyundai’s Tucson, and that Highway cycle mileage will almost certainly top the 30 mpg mark.
For more, we’ll have to wait until we land at the PALExpo convention center, in Switzerland, next month. Meanwhile, look for the 2011 Kia Sportage to reach U.S. showrooms late this year.