BEST OF THE BEST
Kia’s Sportage is UK’s best-selling car of 2024 – and it looks great, drives sweetly and has the right mix of engines
Ford has slumped from second to fifth in the rankings with sales down 24 per cent at 100,000
WHO’S going to be the Christmas No1?
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Ford topped the charts Last Christmas with Puma.
Obvious Wham! reference for you there.
But this time round my money’s on the Koreans.
It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Kia.
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It really is.
Official figures to be released next week will show Kia’s Sportage has overtaken Puma in the race to become Britain’s best-selling motor of 2024.
Kia is now our fourth favourite car brand — behind Volkswagen, BMW and Audi — with a record 106,000 sales in 11 months.
Ford has slumped from second to fifth with sales down 24 per cent at 100,000.
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Nobody would have seen that coming eight years ago when Fiesta sold 125,000 copies in a year on its own.
Why is Sportage such a smash hit?
The Sun's Motors Editor, Rob Gill test drives the Kia EV3
That’s an easy one.
Because it looks great, drives sweetly, and has the right mix of hybrid engines, useful tech and practicality, starting from £29k.
It’s the do-it-all family SUV.
Next summer, Sportage will be remixed with a striking new LED light signature and a refreshed cabin, as previewed at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
We like it. Plus, it’s the only car we can think of with Apple CarPlay projected on the windscreen via Head-up Display.
Kia boss Paul Philpott is bouncing at the prospect of Sportage ending the year as No1 — but he’s not obsessed by it.
He’s got one eye on making sure Kia hits the Government’s Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate which requires 22 per cent of sales to be pure electric.
Strength to strength
Philpott said: “Sportage is the backbone of our brand. It just evolves and goes from strength to strength.
“We’ve never set out with goals to become No1 brand or No1 car line but the success of Sportage is a clear endorsement of how much progress Kia has made and how Sportage appeals to lots of different customers.
“As we move on this transition to electric vehicles and follow our ZEV mandate targets each year, we are not going to abandon hybrids and plug-in hybrids.
“We’re going to keep selling them for as long as we can alongside EVs — and we need to invest in Sportage with bold design to stand out in a pretty competitive market.
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“I think that’s become synonymous with Kia. To have cars that really stand out on the road.”
Kia also unveiled the peri-peri hot EV9 GT in LA and a wicked camper van concept called WKNDR.
The electric SUV is 501hp, up 122hp on the regular EV9, with engineers adding virtual gear shifts, adaptive suspension and bigger brakes. It needs them.
The camper shows how Kia’s electric van family, arriving this time next year, can be tailored for work and play.
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Love it.
All I Want For Christmas Is You.
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