When Kia Motors Australia launched the fourth generation of the Sportage Compact SUV it was a case of major strides and giant leaps forward.

For the product enhancement model just hitting showrooms it is much more a case of refining and polishing what has proven to be a worthy member of the Kia garage.

For the Australian market the new Sportage will be available in four trim levels _ Si, Si Premium, SLi and GT-Line _ with a choice of three engines, a 2.0-litre MPI (114kW and 192 Nm) for Si, Si Premium and SLi, a 2.4-litre GDI (135kW and 237Nm) in GT-Line only and a 2.0-litre diesel (136kW and 400Nm) in all grades.

All petrol models will feature a six-speed automatic gearbox driving the front wheels only in the 2.0-litre petrol Si, Si Premium and SLi models and linked to Kia’s proven on-demand AWD system in the 2.4-litre GDI petrol in the GT-Line.

All diesel models also feature the AWD system but now benefit from Kia’s in-house 8-speed automatic gearbox.