2026 Kia Sportage Gets New Styling, More Power, and Upgraded Tech
This mid-cycle refresh brings a grille-tastic front end, some mild power bumps, and a few other tweaks.
The current Kia Sportage has been a great choice for small SUV buyers since its debut in 2023. Its fuel economy, spacious interior, great price, and attractive styling are all reasons why it sits at #2 in the Compact SUV category of our buyer’s guide. We suspected that the Sportage is still a year or so out from a mid-cycle refresh, but it's come sooner than we thought with the brand new 2026 Kia Sportage making its North American debut at the LA Auto Show.
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A Fresh Face
The first update you’ll notice is exterior styling. One look at the Sportage's front fascia will tell you that someone cooked there. Kia's designers have completely reworked the front end with a new grill and new headlights that are closer to the "vertical" light design you'll find on the Sorrento and EV9. Beyond that front end, the Sportage's design is almost 100 percent carried over from the previous model except for a taillight lens update and new wheel designs.
Interior Updates
The biggest update to speak of in the 2026 Kia Sorrento is the new “driver-centric” 12.3-inch panoramic display. The LX, EX, and X-Line trims also get a 4.2-inch instrument cluster display. There’s also a new 10-inch head-up display offered as an available option.
Along with that new 12.3-inch screen comes Kia’s Connected Car Navigation Cockpit (ccNC) infotainment OS, which features wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It also supports OTA updates and the Kia Connect app (which allows for features like remote start, cabin preconditioning, checking vehicle lock status, scheduling maintenance, and route planning).
Return of the Powertrains
Under the hood, the engine options remain unchanged from the previous model. Buyers have three choices: a 2.5-liter 187 horsepower I-4, a hybrid drivetrain with a 1.6-liter turbo I-4 and 47.7-kW electric motor, and a PHEV featuring the same 1.6-liter turbo I-4 and 47.7-kW electric motor combo.
We thought perhaps the engine options might change since the Korean version of the Sportage ditches the 2.5-liter non-hybrid in favor of the same 2.0-liter engine from the 2025 Kia K4. It looks like Kia decided to keep the 2.5-liter around as a North American market exclusive.
What’s not the same under the hood is the power on tap for the hybrid and PHEV options. The hybrid powertrain gets a modest 4-hp bump to 281 horsepower, compared to the 277 horsepower in the previous model. The PHEV powertrain gets a 7 hp bump to 268 horsepower total.
More Trim Options
Those springing for the hybrid powertrain will have two additional trims to choose from: S, and X-Line. The S Hybrid comes with the same 12.3-inch touchscreen display that you’ll find in the other trims. Other standard features include front and rear USB-C charging ports, smart key, heated front seats, power driver’s seat, blind spot collision warning, rear cross traffic collision avoidance, safe exit assist, and heated outside mirrors. The S hybrid also comes standard with 18-inch dark alloy wheels, gloss black window trim and gloss black grille.
The X-Line hybrid nets you everything you get on the S hybrid trim in addition to wireless smartphone charging, LED fog lights, panoramic sunroof, overhead LED interior lighting, and power liftgate. It gets 19-inch wheels and the gloss black package extends to the bumper and badging.
We don’t have pricing yet, but its safe to expect the starting price on the hybrid trims to go up marginally due to inflation and the new features. If we’re lucky, the base model with the 2.5-liter non-hybrid engine will retain the same $28,565 starting MSRP. We’ll try to pry some hints away from the Kia execs in that regard, so stay tuned.
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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