AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/03 Report--

November 3, the fifth generation of Kia Sportage Lion Platinum extension officially launched, the new car positioning compact SUV, can be regarded as a replacement model of the cash Kia KX5, the launch of 1.5T+8AT, 2.0T+8AT, 2.0L HEV+6AT three power options, the price range of 17.98-240800 yuan, compared with the cash Kia KX5 price range of 13.98-157800 yuan.

As the domestic model of the fifth generation Sportage, Lion Platinum Toujie is based on Kia's new design concept Oppostes United (unity of opposites). The front face adopts the integrated design of grille lamp group, the integration of black forward gas grille and headlamp group, diamond headlights and "return mark"-shaped LED daytime driving lights bring high recognition to the new car.

On the side of the car body, the window lines rising slightly from A-column to D-column and the slip-back line of the roof are connected by three-dimensional relief D-column to bring about the effect of suspended roof. At the rear of the vehicle, the new car adopts through-type black taillights and a large area of black decorative panels at the bottom. The LED luminous structure in the lamp cavity is anti-C-shaped, which is connected by a narrow trim plate. The bilateral design of the rear bumper plus the silver rear guard plate improves the recognition of the whole vehicle. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new car are 4670/1865/1680mm and wheelbase 2755mm respectively. For comparison, the length, width and height of Kia KX5 are 4550/18501655mm and the wheelbase is 2670mm.

In terms of interior decoration, the new car basically continues the design style of overseas models, using a curved double screen design with a full LCD dashboard and a central multimedia display screen, all 12.3 inches in size. The air-conditioning system has an independent display area and uses touch buttons. The shift system adopts a knob design, and its rear includes driving mode setting, ramp assistance, parking assistance, automatic parking and parking images.

In terms of power, the new car will have three power options: 1.5T+8AT, 2.0T+8AT and 2.0L HEV+6AT. Among them, 1.5T turbocharged four-cylinder engine has a maximum power of 200 horsepower and a maximum torque of 253 Nm, while a 2.0T turbocharged four-cylinder engine has a maximum power of 234 horsepower and a maximum torque of 353 Nm. In terms of transmission system, they all match 8-speed manual self-integrated gearbox. In addition, the new car also brings a hybrid version of the gas-electric model, with a hybrid system of 2.0L engine and motor codenamed GN4R, which integrates a maximum power of 200hp and matches a six-speed manual self-integrated gearbox. In addition, the new car is also equipped with an electronic just-in-time four-wheel drive system, which can automatically switch between two-wheel drive mode and four-wheel drive mode. At the same time, it also matches the four DMS driving modes of Eco, Sport, Comfort and Smart, as well as the unique four-wheel drive snow dangerous road mode.

Since its launch in 1993, Kia Sportage has experienced five generations of update iterations, with a total global sales of more than 6.6 million vehicles, and the Sportage is not unfamiliar to the Chinese market, its second-generation, third-generation and fourth-generation models have been introduced into China.

Data show that the first generation of Kia Sportage was born in 1993, but the first generation of models did not enter the country through official channels, and most people are still very strange to this car. In 2004, the second generation of Kia Sportage was released, and then Dongfeng Yueda Kia introduced domestic sales by way of import, even though the price was as high as 200000 yuan or more, it still achieved a good response in the domestic market. In 2007, Dongfeng Yueda Kia introduced the second-generation Sportage into China as its first SUV model, which was named "Lion run" and sold for 15.98-238800 yuan.

In October 2010, Dongfeng Yueda Kia introduced the third generation Sportage into domestic production, named "Zhirun", with a price range of 16.48-249800 yuan. It is worth mentioning that Smart run did not replace Lion run, because Lion run sold quite well in China at that time, and the third-generation Sportage had a very high degree of recognition, so Lion run did not withdraw from the market because of its launch. The two models were sold in the market at the same time and achieved good results. In April 2018, the new generation of Zhirun went public with a price range of 11.99-139900 yuan. In July 2021, Ace officially launched as a mid-term revamped model of the new generation, with a price range of 13.98-157800 yuan.

In February 2016, Dongfeng Yueda Kia introduced the fourth generation Sportage to domestic sales, named "Kia KX5", with a price range of 15.68 yuan to 231800 yuan, which was sold in the same room with Zhiba, and Lion ran announced the suspension of production and sale. However, due to the good development result that the two generations of models can no longer be sold in the same house, the Kia brand is not as well known in the domestic market as before, coupled with the new generation of smart run ushering in a mid-term change, Kia KX5 obviously lacks advantages in design and configuration. According to the data, the cumulative number of insured vehicles of Kia KX5 in the first three quarters was 840, down 74.03% from the same period last year, while Kia Zhi ran 15298 vehicles, down 52.34% from the same period last year.

The Lion Platinum extension comes from the direct transliteration of Sportage, and it is the only Kia model with a four-word name, with a long and mouthful product name. Second, although the internal and external design of Lion Platinum has been updated, different people have different opinions, and the price of the new generation of models is higher than that of Zhirun and KX5 models on sale, with the fuel version as high as 234800 yuan, knowing that the highest price of the new generation CR-V is only 221800 yuan, and the Toyota RAV4 is 228800 yuan, while Kia is far less than "Liangtian" in brand awareness. Finally, the domestic development of Kia is not optimistic, with a total of 72763 vehicles insured in the first three quarters, down 39.22% from the same period last year. In this context, it is not expected that many consumers will choose Lion Platinum as their first choice.

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