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Don't be confused by these photos. You're not looking at the Kia Sorento, you're looking at its smaller sibling. Kia has just revealed the refreshed 2026 Sportage at home in Korea, and it gets the familiar corporate face of the Sorento SUV and Carnival minivan. Kia has made some changes to the interior to match. The cabin gets updates including an oddball new steering wheel, and turbocharged models will pick up a new transmission for the new model year. The biggest exterior change is dropping the boomerang headlights of last year's Sportage in place of Kia's latest Starmap lamps. The lights are Kia's latest design signature, along with vertical stacked headlights instead of the old Sportage's more complexly-shaped lamps.
Kia's New Face Trades Boomerangs For Starmaps
The grille has been stretched to match those new lights. It still has Kia's Tiger Nose in the center, but the new grille is taller, wider, and more upright than it was last year. Kia tweaked the back as well, removing the simulated exhaust surround trim and moving the bumper reflectors, but the big changes are all up front. Kia streamlined the dashboard inside, removing the large air vents that surrounded the cabin's gauge cluster and center display screens. The gear shift has also been removed and replaced with a dial to change gears. This helps make the cabin look roomier and adds enclosed storage, though we know not everyone is a fan of this gear change trend.
The strangest detail in the cabin is the new steering wheel. Kia calls it a "double D-cut steering wheel" and it's a very 1990s detail in an otherwise hypermodern design. Like it or not, the shape certainly adds character to the cabin. It also includes wheel grip detection that uses electrostatic sensors to make sure you're in control when using the highway driving assist feature. Read more...
Kia's New Face Trades Boomerangs For Starmaps
The grille has been stretched to match those new lights. It still has Kia's Tiger Nose in the center, but the new grille is taller, wider, and more upright than it was last year. Kia tweaked the back as well, removing the simulated exhaust surround trim and moving the bumper reflectors, but the big changes are all up front. Kia streamlined the dashboard inside, removing the large air vents that surrounded the cabin's gauge cluster and center display screens. The gear shift has also been removed and replaced with a dial to change gears. This helps make the cabin look roomier and adds enclosed storage, though we know not everyone is a fan of this gear change trend.
The strangest detail in the cabin is the new steering wheel. Kia calls it a "double D-cut steering wheel" and it's a very 1990s detail in an otherwise hypermodern design. Like it or not, the shape certainly adds character to the cabin. It also includes wheel grip detection that uses electrostatic sensors to make sure you're in control when using the highway driving assist feature. Read more...