Kia this week began production of the redesigned 2023 Sportage at the automaker’s plant in West Point, Ga., marking the first time the compact crossover has been produced in the U.S.
The Sportage nameplate was the automaker’s first big seller after the brand’s U.S. launch in the early 1990s. The outgoing fourth-generation model was Kia’s best-selling crossover last year, amid record sales overall.
Kia sold 94,601 Sportages in the U.S. in 2021, compared with 93,705 units of the bigger Telluride crossover and 115,929 units of the Forte compact sedan. The Sportage is Kia’s longest-running nameplate, Kia said.
The fifith-generation Sportage has more distinctive styling and is significantly bigger in a nod to the U.S. market. It goes on sale in the spring.
“Joining our tremendous fleet of SUVs, the all-new Sportage is poised to take the industry by storm with its cutting-edge design, adventurous capability and desirable in-car technology,” Sean Yoon, CEO for Kia North America, said in a statement.
The Sportage is the fourth vehicle to be assembled in the Georgia factory. The others are the three-row Telluride, the midsize Sorento crossover and the K5 midsize sedan. The Sportage shares a platform with the Hyundai Tucson, which began U.S. production last year at Hyundai’s Alabama plant.
