Kia Spoilage: Leaving its ancestors in the dust

摘要

THE KIA SPORTAGE DEBUTED for 1995 as a humble little trucklet, with not much going for it other than a bargain-basement price tag. Today, the Sportage is a genuine looker, joining a string of recent Kias, such as the Optima and the Forte, that have benefited from the leadership of Kia's design chief, Peter Schreyer. Along the way the Sportage ditched its ladder frame in favor of a unibody. It also seems to have lost its frugal pricing: although a base model runs a reasonable $18,990, the latest addition to our Four Seasons fleet, a 2011 Sportage EX, rings in at $30,240.