Start with what the Kia Sportage is: a 5-door SUV with 1.5 L Smartstream G1.5 T-GDi I4, built from 2005, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Peter Schreyer.
The background
The Kia Sportage for the Chinese market is a compact crossover SUV produced by Yueda Kia under the Kia brand. The first two generations of the Kia Sportage in China are the same as the international version, while the international third generation was sold in China as the Kia Sportage R and the international fourth generation as the Kia KX5. The China-exclusive third generation Kia Sportage was developed as a separate model based on the second generation Hyundai Tucson (sold as the ix35 in China).
The engineering
The engine is 1.5 L Smartstream G1.5 T-GDi I4; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 1423 -. Drive goes through a 6-speed Manual transmission / manual / 6-speed Automatic transmission / automatic / 7-speed Dual-clutch transmission / DCT automatic. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2640 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
In the Kia line-up the Kia Sportage has a clear place: the factory was Yancheng (Yueda Kia), China. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Aston Martin Vantage, the Audi Q7, the Bugatti Veyron. Its Kia stablemates include the Kia K5 (Optima) and the Kia Magentis.
Owning one today
Buying one now means $7,400–$36,000 for a typical example, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,308–$6,388 a year. Insurance sits around $1,020–$2,250 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.