Kia Sportage Hybrid finally confirmed for Australia, coming 2024

A correct-hand-bulldoze long wheelbase Sportage hybrid could happen, but it will crave careful planning and a stone-solid business concern case

The fifth-generation Kia Sportage midsize SUV is sold across the globe in a raft of configurations – including as a right-mitt-drive hybrid – but the business instance for Australia is more complex than just dropping an existing powertrain into the electric current car.

With the runaway success of Toyota’south self-charging RAV4 midsize SUV, there is space in the marketplace for Kia to introduce a
direct hybrid competitor in Australia
alongside its petrol, diesel and turbo variants of the Sportage.

Simply senior Kia Australia executives say that the business concern case for the Sportage hybrid has not all the same been fabricated out – with the S Korean production line
needing expensive new tooling
to exist able to produce the hybrid powertrain in Australian long-wheelbase configuration.

Chasing Cars
understands that neither Kia Australia nor Kia’s dwelling house function has agreed to put up the necessary funds to support hybrid production – and there is a concern that this procedure will be so costly that it would brand the cost of an eventuating 2022 Sportage hybrid
too high to compete with the
RAV4.

With the larger three-row Kia Sorento having gained a plug-in hybrid powertrain in Australia in late 2021 – and a new ‘self-charging’ Sorento hybrid en route to our shores – it’s clear that Kia sees the value in hybridising its SUV lineup.

The deviation is that the Sorento production line was
tooled from the beginning to back up hybrid product
to adapt the Australian specification of the vehicle.

Speaking to
Chasing Cars
this month, Kia Australia’s general manager of product planning,
Roland Rivero
said the long wheelbase Sportage hybrid “wasn’t developed for RHD, nosotros’re making a very specific request for a unique development for Commonwealth of australia
and that costs money, information technology costs resources.”

What’s the hold up on Sportage hybrids?

Currently the Kia Sportage is produced for the UK in Slovakia – though it measures 135mm shorter than the Australian-marketplace car – and is available with a petrol-electric powertrain producing 169kW of ability.

North America as well gets a Sportage hybrid which rides on the same
2755mm
wheelbase as Aussie cars though is assembled domestically in Georgia. The aforementioned hybrid powertrain every bit the UK car is bachelor, but has but been developed for LHD markets.

Australian Sportages come out of the Gwangju factory in South Korea, and if we want a series-parallel hybrid Sportage then information technology’s
upwards to Kia Australia to build a business organization example.

To go a RHD Sportage hybrid to production for Australia involves developing the vehicle in Korea, adding tooling to the Gwangju establish and so complying it for the Australian marketplace.

Mr Rivero said that the “[Sportage hybrid business example] requires a lot of number-crunching in terms of adding that complexity to the plant, the development involved… that all has to be paid for and amortised and those maths have to piece of work out.

“Is [Sportage hybrid] going to exist a marketable vehicle that we tin can become the price point to where we want it to be compared to say, a RAV4 hybrid? Until those numbers work out, nosotros can’t give y’all anything business firm. ” he said.

So until the business concern instance is rock-solid, the Sportage hybrid will remain off-limits to Australians.

Would Kia team upward with Hyundai to boost efficiency?

Hyundai and Kia are owned in majority by Hyundai Motor Grouping and share access to the extensive Namyang testing facility.

The Hyundai Tucson midsize SUV shares a platform and engines with the Kia Sportage, including the option of a cocky-charging hybrid in other markets.

However, the Tucson and Sportage are non built for Australia in the same factory, the Hyundai is manufactured in the
Ulson
found, and the Sportage at Kia’s
Gwangju
facility.

When asked whether Hyundai and Kia could share development costs for RHD hybrid Tucson and Sportage models, Kia Australia managing managing director Damien Meredith said that the investment in the tooling and development would come from a brand level, rather than company-wide R&D costs.

That ways the sibling companies won’t join forces to develop a single variant for the Australian market when both cars are made in dissimilar factories.

Kia Sportage 2022: prices in Australia

All prices listed are before on-road costs.

• Due south 2.0 petrol manual: $32,445 ($34,690)
• South 2.0 petrol auto: $34,445 ($35,690)
• S 2.0T diesel auto: $39,845 ($42,690)
• SX 2.0 petrol manual: $35,000 ($37,490)
• SX 2.0 petrol auto: $37,000 ($38,490)
• SX 2.0T diesel fuel auto: $42,400 ($45,490)
• SX+ two.0 petrol motorcar: $41,500 ($44,490)
• SX+ one.6T petrol DCT: $43,500 ($46,990)
• SX+ 2.0T diesel fuel car: $46,900 ($49,990)
• GT-Line 1.6T petrol DCT: $49,370 ($51,990)
• GT-Line ii.0T diesel fuel auto: $52,370 ($54,990)