If The New Kia Sportage Looks Like This We'll Be Thrilled

Jan. 25, 2021 10:06 AM ET by Michael Butler Design / 11 Comments

We think Kia is onto a winner with the new crossover.

Now in its fourth generation, the highly-successful Kia Sportage is set for an overhaul for the 2022 model year. We've seen some pretty impressive renderings of what the compact SUV could look like, but things have become a little bit more interesting thanks to some new designs by Nikita Chuiko that appear very close to the real deal.

The pics show off a car that looks much sharper and handsome than the outgoing model. These pics come at a time when Kia itself is seeing some significant company changes, including a name change and a completely redesigned logo. The latest Sportage renders should be enough to hold us over until the car's official reveal in April.

The Kia Sportage started out its life back in 1993, with a rather bulbous look which has been refined over the years into one of the best looking compact SUVs on the market. These new renderings show off a possible Sportage that looks like it shares its dimensions with the current model. From the front, they show off an ascending sill line, and a different placement of the door handles; fine details that make a big difference.

The front is seriously good to look at, and the rendered Sportage's grille and headlight combination remind us somewhat of contemporary Lexus models. The rear-end of the digital render shows off some angular taillights that give the Sportage a clean and minimalist look.

2020-2021 Kia Sportage Front View Driving

2020-2021 Kia Sportage Rear View Driving

The new Kia Sportage will share its platform and powertrains with the fourth-generation Hyundai Tucson, including a 2.5-liter 'Smartstream" engine as well as a spicy 1.6-liter turbocharged four cylinder producing a healthy 226 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. The Sportage should see both a front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive version when it makes its appearance later this year.