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S6E49 – Does the 2026 Kia Sportage Have What It Takes to Win SUV of the Year?
S6E49 – Does the 2026 Kia Sportage Have What It Takes to Win SUV of the Year?
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About this episode
A deep dive into the 2026 Kia Sportage reveals significant enhancements aimed at winning SUV of the Year. Hosts Lauren Fix, Carl Brower, and Javier Mota are joined by Kia's Mike Wilde and Derek Tai, who discuss the Sportage's expanded dimensions, improved interior comfort, and cutting-edge technology. Notable features include spacious rear legroom, advanced safety systems like Ford Collision Avoidance 2, and a competitive price point under $30,000. The episode highlights Kia's evolution in design and functionality, making the Sportage a strong contender in the crowded SUV market.
Topics:
2026 kia sportage
interior comfort
safety features
design enhancements
cargo space
technology upgrades
price point
hybrid options
consumer confidence
SUV of the year
In this episode, we’re in Louisville, Kentucky, test-driving the all-new 2026 Kia Sportage. With refreshed styling, upgraded technology, and multiple powertrain options, Kia’s popular SUV is aiming to stay ahead of the competition—and maybe even take home the North American SUV of the Year Award.
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Welcome to the Total Car Score Podcast, bringing you the world of cars from inside the car.
And now your hosts, Carl Brower, Lauren Fix, and Javier Mota.
Welcome back to the Total Car Score Podcast.
I'm Lauren Fix.
Today we are in Louisville, or Louisville, or however you want to say it, Kentucky.
And I'm lucky to have with me two Kia internals, Mike Wilde, Director of Product Planning,
and Derek Tai, Senior Product Planning Manager, to talk about the new vehicle.
There's a lot of changes.
I mean, a long list of changes for 2026.
So whichever of you would like to start, tell us about your number one selling vehicle.
So the Kia Sportage, when we first launched this fifth generation, the most significant
enhancement that consumers noticed was the overall size.
I think the dimensions of a longer overall length and longer wheelbase actually benefited
the vehicle primarily because now you have a more spacious rear legroom, improving the
overall rear cargo room and interior dimensions.
So with this being the largest segment and pretty much the main vehicle in the household,
this vehicle became the everyday car, or everyone's car.
And what that means is that you got to do everything right in terms of, or double duty
I should say, from daily driver to DIY to weekend trips and so on.
Yeah, I noticed that right away the rear legroom is a huge improvement.
As now a grandparent and was a parent, the legroom is important when you have child safety
seats because no one wants to get kicked in the back.
That's right.
And having the ability to put two child safety seats is really important and of course the
space for all the things that you have to bring with you.
So it's a huge improvement.
I think there were so many improvements both inside and outside and technology and
of course more performance.
I think all of that was a huge factor.
So can you tell us more about the, we'll start with the exterior, since it's the easiest.
When you approach the vehicle, it looks completely different.
Right.
So, you know, one of the main things that we had to focus on was our opposites united
design philosophy.
So as you know, that we have a two track strategy.
We have the one on the SX Procedure that you had driven today and our X-Line Hybrid,
which is a new trim for a Sportage Hybrid starting with 2026.
The X-Line has, so these two design elements has really two unique, I would say, not necessarily
buyers but design philosophies where the X-Line shows the rugged and confident design image
and which is what we want to portray and a lot of what our consumers want in their
vehicle, very emotional.
And then the other on the SX Procedure is about having something fresh and modern
and I don't know if you notice, but that heritage blue, it's a very nice color.
It's, it was developed specifically for Sportage for 2026 primarily because of that image that
we wanted to show.
That's your oldest car, right?
Isn't one of your oldest name plates?
It is.
Oldest name plate.
It came out 1995.
Wow.
I remember that.
I think I was at the drive event for that.
I'm sure we both were.
But it's interesting to watch how Kia has evolved and they really amplified their
game.
And it's funny and you may agree with this and maybe you'll just not because you can't
agree.
It used to be that Audi was the baseline.
If you didn't meet that Audi A4 level, then your car wasn't good enough.
And now that's completely out the window and Kia and Hyundai, I know it's your sister
company but you're not here in the U.S.
But globally, you guys have really taken over that space.
We hired the designer from Audi, Peter Fryer.
Yeah, and you can tell.
You've upgraded all of your designs and designs are much more important to Kia now.
Because it's not just price.
It's price.
It's the whole package.
You've got to have the technology, the price, the styling, the size, like Derek said.
And then another thing I want to add on that exterior styling is they all have more of
a consistent look.
So they all have the amber lighting.
We first had that with the Telluride and now we have it for all of our vehicles,
the amber DRLs, and also the StarMap.
And it's got, I think, a more aggressive, bolder appearance, the front end.
It looks good.
The front end, you know, it's a tough segment.
It's a very competitive segment so we want to stay ahead of the competitors.
A huge segment.
I think it's probably the busiest segment.
One thing you did, and I constantly complain about it, and I don't know if you heard me
or not, but you took the rear wiper and you tucked it up underneath the upper wing.
That is a super smart idea, whether you were involved in that or not, you can take
credit for it because I live in Buffalo, New York and we use ice scrapers.
And when you ice scrape the back, the wing always gets damaged because of course
ice and it sticks to the glass.
If it's tucked up underneath it protects them and those little small wiper blades
are really expensive, much more than the front blades.
So that was one positive that I saw, I'm like, yay.
It also looks a lot better.
It does.
It's cleaner, more aerodynamic.
Yes, that's something we've been working on for a while.
It was a good move.
That was a real smart move.
Yeah, we do pay attention to the aesthetics and the fine details that really what
it does is it helps improve the consumers' daily lives.
The vehicle should be able to improve their lives and be complementary
and not make it a lot more difficult.
Moving to the interior, massive changes.
Massive changes.
You walk into this big screen, but not too big.
It's not a Tesla where it's ridiculous.
It's nice.
It's designed.
It's driver-focused.
And for the consumer, because you're there every day, you sit in seat.
He didn't ventilate the seats on the top trim level and three-stage heated seats
on the second row.
Right.
I don't think anyone else in the class has it.
On and off.
You have three-stage heated seats.
So little details like that I think are decision makers for consumers.
Right.
So tell us more about the interior.
So in terms of the interior, the first thing I think of is when you first open a door,
what is that first impression?
I mean, of course, that's on the design aesthetics, but the second is the moment
you sit on that vehicle, we want to be able to focus on that comfort level and
also the feeling of, okay, I feel confident in this vehicle.
Because that's one of the things that the consumers have told me in our research,
is that what is it that you want most in your vehicle?
And it's about having that confidence.
You mentioned that you live in New York.
And one of the things is, well, when it snows, what happens?
Consumers tend to either be a little afraid to drive in the snow.
So the main point is that we wanted to have the consumers feeling comfortable in the
vehicle and also confident.
So we've improved the interior in terms of, yes, we still have the dual 12.3-inch
screen, but what really changed is what's behind it.
And we added our new connected car navigation cockpit, which not only added
wireless carplay and Android Auto for all trims.
Standard.
That's impressive.
Standard, right.
That's good.
Because some brains are charging extra.
Again, setting the baseline, this is what you have to do in order to make
the sale.
And then in terms of the infotainment, it's very intuitive.
Because it's a connected car, it's our new platform.
It's very quick.
The latency has been minimized.
I noticed that.
I noticed that.
It's much quicker.
And that's good.
The seats were real comfortable.
I wish there was lumbar on the passenger side.
That's just a personal thing.
We'll have to write that down.
Write that down.
Because here's why I said that.
You're going on a road trip.
And my husband's driving.
And it says, OK, I'm tired.
You drive.
So the person in the passenger seat suffers.
So that's just a personal thing.
Way back when, they used to call me out in the Kia meetings and say, yeah, we have lumbar
on the passenger side.
So I am the lumbar queen.
So that's sort of become my title, I guess.
As far as the steering wheel, that looked really cool.
It was leather, flat top and bottom.
Stylized.
It was nice.
It didn't block your vision.
And that huge 10-inch head-up display, that was awesome.
So the steering wheel, I'm glad you noticed, is that the intent is to improve the visibility.
So again, that's, I don't want to say it's safety-related, but in a way it is.
It is.
Because now you want to make sure that you're feeling very comfortable and confident driving.
So it doesn't block your view.
You mentioned the head-up display.
So yes, that is a first for us.
Also what's interesting is that taking that step further is allowing the turn-by-turn
directions to display.
I saw that.
That was nice.
I mean, everything's traffic sign recognition.
It was right there, and it wasn't so small you couldn't see it.
But even you could see it through your glasses.
I wore polarized sunglasses, and I could see it.
Not every brand's doing that.
So if you're buying a car, and it has head-up display, put on your sunglasses and see if
you can see it.
So that's good that you made it bright enough that you could see it, but not so bright
that it was unusable.
So a smart move.
So there's other things that have been changed in this car, too, if you'd like to add
some of the goodies.
There's a lot of stuff.
I mean, there was so many changes.
The list was quite extensive.
Well we do pay attention to a lot of details.
So for example, the wireless charging has been improved.
In terms of the usability of it, the surface where you put your phone and having clear physical
or visual elements to let the driver know, OK, am I putting it here?
It's a lot more efficient, and it prevents really the phone from sliding while you're
taking turns or whatever it might be.
Color pads.
I mean, I think for me, one of my favorite things is about the colors.
I mean, I know that it adds some bonding element because it's very emotional.
Yes.
You know, when you look at the exterior, you also want the interior to complement.
And you are in the vehicle for, you could be in the vehicle for several hours at a
time.
And being on a road trip, eyes get tired, but at the same time, when you look around
your interior, it's very comforting.
Yeah, I like the colors.
It was nice.
There are so many cars out there that have the choices of a black interior or some boring
color, but you made it nice.
You have nice material changes also.
I noticed there was like a suede material across where your back would go, and I believe
it's a leatherette through the rest of it.
But it was nice.
It was nice looking too, and different designs and styling, I think, because I think what
people don't realize is when you buy a car, it may look great on the outside
and you get in it.
It's where you live.
So it has to be appealing.
It has to be engaging.
It has to be intuitive.
Right.
And of course, also, not only the front passengers, but the rear passengers.
You mentioned the heated rear seats having the three settings, so that's really important
because all passengers should be comfortable in the vehicle.
Yeah.
Well, as far as safety, five-star crash test rating from NHTSA is huge.
Right, yes.
And not all the brands, none of the competitors have that.
I mean, they just won't say it.
So it's important.
I used to be a dealer trainer, so I always say safety and security
cells.
And it truly does.
I mean, for you as a consumer and also for the dealer, because they want you to have
something comfortable.
Now, there are some optional things.
Can you tell us about some of the optional safety features that you've added?
So as far as what's new is we have this Ford Collision
Avoidance 2, which also adds HDA2 and also Lane Keeping Assist.
And pretty much the standard system, the Ford Collision Avoidance, adds junction turning,
and it's also radar sensing.
And so that's in addition to the camera base that we had in the previous year.
So by having both camera and effusion standard, for example, it provides better coverage
and detection for pedestrian, car, cyclist, and now junction turning.
That's really important.
I've seen a lot of accidents.
You miss that or someone doesn't see you.
The intervention and all that is really, it saves lives.
And it not only looks forward, but also to the side.
So we have radar to the side and the side of the bumpers.
So we added more radar.
So if a car is coming at you from the intersection, you'll see it and help you avoid it.
And it has not only will stop you, but it has evasive steering.
So if there was a car coming at you, it could help steer out of the way.
If you can't break in time, it'll actually steer the car.
So that's a very advanced system.
Our most advanced system that we have for you.
I was going to say that's pretty advanced.
I don't think any of the competitors have anything close to that.
I don't think so either.
So that's important.
Safety sells, right?
Right.
And the one thing that motivates me the most is about who's driving the vehicle.
I want every consumer, whether...
So when you really think about it, yes, there's a couple that's driving the vehicle,
but you also have young drivers, new drivers, older drivers.
So you really need to anticipate everyone's needs.
But everyone may be quick to react.
So that's why we have added all these safety features and optional safety features, I think,
in the event that they need it, it's right there.
So one of the things I think that's big when you made the vehicle bigger was 40 cubic
feet of storage, which you may not realize it's a lot.
It's a lot.
And then you put that in the seats and you've got even more.
I think...
Is that the largest in the segment?
It's one of the largest.
I mean, you know, new competitors do come out, so they're spending so much for
other...
Right.
But that's good.
And the seats fold completely flat, which isn't the case for all of you.
That is true.
So it's the easiest to store your stuff in the back.
Important to note if you're moving your kid to college.
Yes.
And it has underfloor storage, right?
It does.
Right.
So dual level, so that increases your...
And a spare tire.
A lot of brands aren't doing that.
You know, great to have a tire inflation product, but when you need a tire, you're
really grateful.
Yes.
And if you don't know how to change a tire, you should learn how to do that.
That's really important.
I think one of the big things besides the fact that you offer it in gas, you offer it
in hybrid, and you also offer plug-in hybrid.
Right.
And the plug-in hybrid is coming soon, I think, but right now we have hybrid and gas
available.
Yes.
Is the fact that the price point is really good, because right now there's very few
vehicles available on the road in total below $30,000.
It used to be below $20,000.
There's nothing there now.
But below $30,000, and you're getting all of this value, is there anything else you
can tell us about the vehicle that would make people say, you know what?
I got to take this for a ride.
You know, the thing is, I mentioned the LX trim, yes, at a starting point of $30,290.
A lot of people may not realize, but we do fight pretty hard to get consumers to
be able to afford their vehicles.
I understand with inflation increasing, so the cost of living increasing.
But the storage hybrid does a lot of things that helps minimize or at least control that
cost of living, having the best-in-class fuel economy on the LX.
So you have the lowest price or an affordable price point, and you have the best-in-class
fuel economy.
But that means is that you have the fuel savings.
I did mention also that in our presentation that reserve value is among the top.
Yeah.
You guys have come a long way.
What the key is, and this is where no one beats it other than Hyundai and matches it, 10-year
100,000 mile warranty.
That's correct.
I think that's why people buy it.
Yes.
I think it's a big selling point.
Lots of big changes.
So congratulations, and the gas version is built in West Point, Georgia.
Yes.
I was at the factory when it opened.
It was a long time ago.
And then we have hybrids and plug-in hybrids coming, so that'll be cool.
Those should be in dealers soon, I assume.
For the plug-in hybrids, yes, very soon.
So that's what you want.
It's available.
And everything that people want, pick what works for you.
Yes.
All right.
Well, thank you so much, Derek and Mike for coming out.
Thank you.
Take one for a test drive.
I think you'll be very impressed.
We were very impressed.
My review is on Car Coach Reports.
You'll also see it on other outlets.
Javier will be driving this later, as well as Carl.
And this vehicle is running for North American SUV of the year.
Oh, wow.
So good luck.
Thank you.
We'll see what happens.
This is exciting.
Thanks so much for your time.
That's a wrap for this episode of the Total Car Score Podcast.
Want more expert takes on the hottest cars, industry trends and insider insights?
Join Javier Mota, Lauren Fix and Carl Brower every week for the ultimate auto talk.
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