KIA SPORTAGE

Ever-popular family SUV receives a mid-generation refresh

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You'll know of the Kia Sportage. There’s one on your road or your school run, if not on your driveway. Along with its sibling car, the Hyundai Tucson, the Sportage has become a default family SUV over recent decades, with a long warranty, lots of space, decent technology, reassuring dynamics and sharp styling making it the bestselling SUV in the UK last year and - so far - this year.

In fact, since it was introduced in 1995, Kia has sold more than 457,000 examples of the Sportage in the UK alone. So far, so profitable.

The current-generation model has been given a midlife refresh. The most obvious update is the bluff grille, which now brings the Sportage more in line with the latest ‘tiger nose’ design that also dominates the forthcoming EV5.

That model, being a midsize family SUV itself, arrives late this year and is in effect the pure-electric alternative to the Sportage, which doesn’t get a full EV variant.

The Sportage does, however, keep the full lineup of piston-engined powertrains, starting with a turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol and stepping up through full-hybrid and plugin hybrid variants. All have now been tweaked for slightly better efficiency and performance. Towing capacity for the hybrids has also been upped from 1360kg (braked) to 1510kg.