Kia is launching its all new Sportage in the Ski fields of the south Island of New Zealand. The all new Sportage is sleeker, bigger and better than the Sportage it replaces.

I am currently in New Zealand at the launch and I can tell you the first impressions are very good. It looks stylish in the flesh, has a choice of trsansmissions and petrol or diesel engines, comes in three feature levels and really does very little wrong.

In terms of the car it replaces ther all new Sportage is streets ahead. A key feature is that it has undergone extensive testing and development for Australia's unique driving conditions. This is a committment that Kia's head office has give the local company that all new models will be 'Australian Tuned'

The new Sportage line-up will be available with three engines (two petrol and one diesel, covering a 122kW to 135kW power spread), and a choice of manual or automatic transmissions with two-wheel or all-wheel drive. 

New safety features include ESC with a new Rollover Sensor, Hillstart Assist Control (to prevent roll-back when starting on an incline and roll-forward when reversing up a slope in reverse with the manual transmission) and Downhill Brake Control (to limit speed during a steep descent).

A new rear-view safety camera, which transmits an image to an LCD colour display integrated into the interior rear-view mirror, will be standard in SLi and Platinum models.

I will have a full drive report in the coming days when I get back but for the time being I can tell you the MLP is extremely sharp especially considering the features they have packed into the new Sportage.

The MLP is as follows