2026 Kia Sportage Facelift Priced for Australia: 13 Variants From $37,990, Hybrid AWD Finally Lands

Image credit: Kia Australia

The MY26 Sportage matters less for what is new under the bonnet and more for the doors it opens at the bottom of the price list. Kia has finally added an all-wheel-drive hybrid, plugged a hybrid into the entry S grade, and ditched the old 7-speed dual-clutch on the 1.6 turbo. The catch is everyone is paying more for it. The base car is up $5,000 over the old manual, and even like-for-like autos are up by as much as $4,070. If you are cross-shopping a Tucson Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid or X-Trail e-Power, the maths just got more interesting.

Pricing

The range now spans 13 variants across four grades and four powertrains. All prices are before on-road costs.

Two pricing levers are worth flagging. AWD on the hybrid is a flat $3,000 premium over the equivalent FWD car, so a buyer can sequence themselves up the grade ladder without paying double for the second axle. And every petrol or diesel grade is now an automatic only, so the old $32,990 manual S that anchored the headline is gone, and the comparable auto is now $37,990. Calling that a $3,000 lift like the auto-to-auto comparison would understate the change for anyone walking in expecting last year's sticker.

What's actually new

Three structural moves do the heavy lifting for the MY26 update. First, hybrid AWD is finally on the menu, ending an awkward stretch where the Sportage Hybrid was FWD-only while the Tucson Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid and X-Trail e-Power all offered four driven wheels. Second, the hybrid drops into the entry S grade for the first time, giving Kia a sub-$50k hybrid foothold without forcing buyers up to SX. Third, the 1.6L turbo petrol AWD ditches the old seven-speed dual-clutch and now runs an 8-speed torque-converter auto, the same shift Hyundai pulled on the Tucson. Drivers who found the old DCT clunky around carparks will not miss it.

On the body, expect a tweaked front-end with a reworked grille, fresh light signature and minor bumper changes rather than a full skin swap. The 2.0L petrol stays as the value floor. The 2.0L diesel sticks around for tow-focused buyers and rural fleets that still want the 1,900kg braked rating without a hybrid battery in the wheelbase.

Powertrains and key specs

The hybrid is the volume powertrain Kia wants you to look at. A 1.6L turbo petrol works with a transmission-mounted motor and a small battery to put 172kW and 367Nm at the wheels through a conventional 6-speed automatic. It is the same hardware Hyundai uses in the Tucson Hybrid, but Kia has finally signed off on the AWD calibration locally. Towing buyers who care about a 1,900kg rating still need the diesel or the 1.6T petrol AWD, the hybrid pair is capped at 1,650kg braked.

Equipment and Kia Connect

Kia has lifted standard equipment across the range and rolled in Kia Connect, the brand's connected-car services suite with over-the-air mapping updates, remote climate and remote lock from a phone app, plus stolen-vehicle assistance. Twin 12.3-inch screens for the dash and infotainment, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate and a power tailgate are now lower down the range than they were last year, although Kia has reserved heated and ventilated front seats, head-up display, panoramic sunroof, surround-view camera and the eight-speaker Harman Kardon stereo for SX+ and GT-Line. GT-Line keeps the bigger 19-inch wheels, exclusive grille and trim, and matrix LED headlights.

Safety and ANCAP

The Sportage carries its existing five-star ANCAP rating, awarded in 2022, across the MY26 lineup. Component scores read 87% adult occupant, 87% child occupant, 66% vulnerable road user and 74% safety assist. The car packs eight airbags including a front-centre bag, dual ISOFIX outboard, three top tethers, autonomous emergency braking with car, pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection, lane-keep assist, blind-spot collision avoidance, rear cross-traffic alert and adaptive cruise with stop-and-go on every variant. GT-Line adds remote smart park assist, the higher-spec adaptive cruise with Highway Driving Assist 2 and Blind-Spot View Monitor.

How it compares

The interesting cross-shop is the new hybrid floor. On CarSorted the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid is listed at $52,990 with 169kW combined and a 5-year warranty. The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid sits at $49,990 with 163kW combined, 4.8 L/100km and a 5-year warranty. The Nissan X-Trail e-Power is also $52,990 with 150kW. The new Sportage S Hybrid at $46,560 undercuts every one of them, brings the strongest 172kW combined output of the four, the longest 7-year warranty and an 8-year battery cover, and at SX hybrid AWD it pulls back roughly level with a Tucson Hybrid AWD on price while bettering it on warranty.

At the top of the tree the GT-Line Hybrid AWD at $60,370 is now within $560 of an Outlander PHEV LS AWD, which is the obvious next question for buyers who can plug in at home. The PHEV gives you 86km of WLTP electric range, but you pay for it in driveway and battery management. The Sportage Hybrid is the simpler choice for buyers who do not have a charger and just want low fuel use.

For a deeper head-to-head, our long-form Sportage vs Tucson comparison walks through interior space, boot, ownership cost and the platform-sharing question, and the RAV4 vs CX-5 vs Tucson three-way covers the volume rivals.

Warranty and servicing

Kia's seven-year, unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty carries straight over, with eight years on the hybrid battery and seven years of capped-price servicing booked through Kia dealers. That seven-year backstop is the longest on offer in the hybrid mid-SUV set against the five-year cover from Toyota, Hyundai, Mazda and Nissan, and is one of the few areas where the higher MY26 sticker price comes back in measurable form.

What this means for buyers

If you are sitting on a Tucson Hybrid or RAV4 Hybrid quote right now, the Sportage S Hybrid changes the maths. On CarSorted's running-cost model the Sportage Hybrid uses about 5.4 L/100km in mixed driving against the RAV4's 4.8. At 15,000km a year and $1.95 a litre 91, that is roughly $175 a year more in fuel for the Kia. Across a five-year ownership window that is around $875. The Sportage's two extra warranty years cover an out-of-warranty timing chain or transmission claim worth several times that on any conventional auto, and you keep capped-price servicing for the full seven years. For long-hold private buyers the warranty trade-off pays for the fuel gap and then some.

For tow-heavy buyers the 1,650kg hybrid braked rating still rules out a 2-tonne caravan. The 137kW diesel at $43,390 stays the sensible pick there, with 1,900kg of tow and 6.3 L/100km. And if budget is the binding constraint, the 2.0L petrol S at $37,990 is still the cheapest way into a 5-star, 7-year-warranty mid-size SUV in Australia. Cross-shop it directly against the Mazda CX-5 at $38,990, an MG HS or a base Tucson before signing.

Run the numbers on your shortlist with the CarSorted compare tool, or browse the full mid-size SUV directory to filter by powertrain, warranty and price.