THIS car gives us a very strong hint of what the next version of Kia's popular Sportage family SUV will look like, writes William Scholes.
Up until now, Kia has produced a single version of the Sportage for the various markets around the world in which it sells the car.
But the new version will have a dedicated European model; though it isn't likely to look much different from the car in our images, it will benefit from changes to cater better for our tastes, such as in how it handles.
The Sportage from two generations back was a break-out model for Kia, signalling the brand's arrival as a serious rival to the traditional marques favoured by Northern Ireland buyers.
Distinctive styling was an important part of that Sportage's appeal, and that remains the case with the upcoming model.
Boomerang-shaped vertical daytime running lights and chunky headlights at the front give it a striking appearance; from the side, it has a slightly muscular appearance; and at the back a full-width light bar ought to mean the Sportage stands out on the road.
We can expect cabin quality to take a step forward too, especially if the latest version of its big brother, the excellent Sorento, is anything to go by.
Karim Habib, senior vice-president and head of Kia's Global Design Centre, said: "Reinventing the Sportage gave our talented design teams a tremendous opportunity to do something new; to take inspiration from the recent brand relaunch and introduction of EV6 to inspire customers through modern and innovative SUV design.
"With the all-new Sportage, we didn't simply want to take one step forward but instead move on to a different level in the SUV class."
The European version of the Sportage is expected to be shown in September.
