Price puzzle prize winner

Kia cleverly adds three diesel options to the popular Sportage range, two of which have no direct price-range rivals

- Braam Peens

Price: R735 995
Engine: 1,6-litre, inline-four, turbo diesel 
Transmission: seven-speed dual-clutch 
Power: 100 kW @ 4 000 r/min
Torque: 320 N.m @ 2000-2 250 r/min 0-100 km/h: 11,4 seconds 
Top speed: 180 km/h* 
Fuel consumption: 4,9 L/100km (combined)*
CO₂ emissions: 129 g/km*
Rivals: Haval H6, Volkswagen Tiguan, Chery Tiggo 7 Pro, Chery Tiggo 8 Pro, Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4

A quick - and considering the prime sometimes A the prices of new cars, scary and always cursory - glance across automotive segments provides a revelatory snapshot of buying trends across the South African passenger vehicle market.

Key takeaways are that nearly two-thirds of new-vehicle sales now originate from compact and medium-sized SUVs, within which manual-transmission equipped models have been continually losing their appeal, making petrol automatics almost the default choice.

And what of diesels?

There are a handful of options at the R300k-R400k entry point, a similar number between R700k and R900k and a raft of seven-digit price picks thereafter.

Between R500k and R700k, though, where what's left of the country's economically active middle-class is being forced to shop - there is not one.

Enter Kia, which trotted out a petrol derivative of the fifth generation Sportage in September 2022 (incidentally, a contender for the 2023 South African Car of the Year), and have finally gotten around to adding a trio of oil-burning derivatives to the five strong incumbent petrol-engined line-up.