Kia Australia will hold off bringing the Sportage plug-in hybrid to Australia for the foreseeable future due to limited supply overseas.
Family Cars
Kia has confirmed that there is no plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant on the horizon for its popular medium SUV in Australia to join the 'plugless' hybrid version already in showrooms.
Dean Norbiato, Kia Australia's marketing chief, told Drive it's unlikely the Sportage will be offered as a PHEV for the Australian market in this generation, expected to remain in showrooms for another two to three years.
"PHEV is going to be a difficult one to bring in this current generation. North America and the Korean domestic market will get the lion's share for now, but the next generation is still a work in progress."
Norbiato further cited that wait times have been an issue for the only Kia plug-in currently available, the Sorento.
"We still have a PHEV Sorento, and the supply has been very tight to the point where we've had back orders that built up for it.
"[Backorders] are not fun to do to customers, making them wait, particularly when there are other options out there in the marketplace that they can easily get hold of."
The plug-in hybrid variant of the Sportage has been available in European and Asian markets since 2024, featuring the same 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder engine found in Australian models, paired with a 13.8kWh battery and an electric-only range rating of 55km.
Australia sources its Kia Sportage SUVs from the same factory as North America, a market that saw 796,488 new Kias of all kinds sold in 2024, compared to Australia's 81,787.
"The Korean factory has to supply North America and Australia. Europe, luckily, has a Slovakian factory doing it too, so we're able to get some supply, but it's improving – that's what we hear," Kia Australia product boss Roland Rivero told Drive.
Despite inbound new-vehicle emissions rules coming down hard on petrol and diesel engines, most variants in the latest Kia Sportage range use carry-over 2.0-litre petrol and turbo diesel four-cylinders, as well as a non-hybrid 1.6-litre turbo to complement the hybrid version.
While the 2.0-litre petrol engine did survive the facelift, Drive has previously reported that the base-model engine is likely for the chopping block in the coming years, a decision that could have been postponed with another PHEV model to offset its impact on Kia's emissions average.
"We'd love PHEV, particularly under NVES [emissions rules]. It does get you some credits, but up to now, it's been a hard one for us to justify," Rivero said.
With the Sportage only just receiving its mid-life facelift, we can hypothesise that customers will likely wait at least another four to five years for the next-generation model to introduce a plug-in hybrid variant.
Family Cars Guide
Zane Dobie comes from a background of motorcycle journalism, working for notable titles such as Australian Motorcycle News Magazine, Just Bikes and BikeReview. Despite his fresh age, Zane brings a lifetime of racing and hands-on experience. His passion now resides on four wheels as an avid car collector, restorer, drift car pilot and weekend go-kart racer.
