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News - Kia - SportageEntry-level Kia Sportage hybrid likelyKia says 2.0L petrol Sportage 'days are numbered’, making way for base model hybrid10 Jun 2025 FOLLOWING the introduction of two new all-wheel drive hybrid variants with the facelifted 2025 Kia Sportage that has just arrived Down Under, Kia Australia says it is content with the breadth of powertrains on offer but is prepared to make alterations based on market demands, including the potential introduction of a base-spec Sportage S Hybrid.
Kia Australia general manager of product planning Roland Rivero told GoAuto the one limitation currently preventing a base hybrid from going on sale here is obtaining enough volume from that car’s Korean production source.
Australia shares its long-wheelbase Sportage specification with North America – in contrast to the short-wheelbase version sold in Europe and the UK – yet it also shares its hybrid sourcing location.
“We’re sharing (volume) with the United States (because) the hybrid variant isn’t built in (the US plant in) Georgia – they actually have to import the Hybrid from Korea,” Mr Rivero told GoAuto at the Sportage launch in Sydney.
“Supply is a bit difficult. We’re trying. Our sales team always tries to get as much supply as they can.”
Although the Sportage set all-time Australian sales record of 22,210 units in 2024, Mr Rivero said it was unlikely to be repeated this year.
“We probably won’t sell the same volume (in 2025) only because the Sportage is quite popular all around the world. It’s the number one selling vehicle in the Kia stable globally,” he said.
Given the choice of either a lower-spec front-drive version of the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol or an entry-level version of the hybrid, Mr Rivero said “we’re probably looking at a hybrid entry variant, first and foremost, before we look at a 1.6 turbo front-wheel drive”.
His statement does not discount the possibility of a cheaper 1.6T in the future but confirms that a Sportage S Hybrid is more of a priority (although not diesel even though the Sportage is the last mainstream SUV offered in Australia with that engine option).
“Right now, (Sportage hybrid) starts at a level two SX, and if we can get enough supply out of Korea, we would probably push for that (an entry-level version),” said Mr Rivero.
"Let’s just see how we go with the current trim line-up and the supply we’re going to get and market demand. If anything’s out of whack, then we can make adjustments.”
In the pre-facelift model, the front-drive-only hybrid accounted for 20 per cent of the Sportage’s total model mix. With the 2025 ‘Product Enhancement’, Kia expects the hybrid split to favour the new AWD (60 per cent) over the front-drive (40 per cent), but did not provide the hybrid’s projected overall share of Sportage volume.
“You get the product position right, then (the Hybrid) could effectively take over and be the only powertrain,” said Mr Rivero.
“But at this point in time, we love being able to offer the choice to the customer.”
Perhaps surprisingly, the biggest selling variant in the pre-facelift Sportage line-up was the range-topping GT-Line turbo-diesel – a drivetrain that carries over in all four trim levels for 2025.
But unlike in other markets, a plug-in hybrid version of the Sportage will not be offered in Australia, at least during the current generation.
As for the entry-level 2.0-litre multi-point-injected four-cylinder – an engine that can trace its lineage back at least 15 years – Mr Rivero confirmed “it’s days are numbered globally”.
With modest outputs of 115kW/192Nm and a below-par combined fuel consumption figure of 8.1L/100km, the ancient 2.0 MPi contributes little to Kia’s NVES credentials, but Kia Australia says the powertrain still has appeal in the Sportage line-up.
“The fleets love it,” said Mr Rivero. “At the end of the day, whole-of-life costs dictate what a fleet manager will choose to put on their fleet. And for them, Sportage 2.0-litre MPi works.
“So we’ve got to observe the fact that there is still market demand for it, albeit fleet, and what do we move them into if we don’t give them that? That’s something we’ve got to work on,” he said.
“Then you factor NVES into that as well, and what that is going to do to the (Sportage model) mix – no one actually knows just yet,” added Kia Australia general manager of marketing Dean Norbiato.
“But we’re in the position where we can jockey and move to what’s necessary across the different powertrains,” he said.  Read more |
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