Kia Sportage S Hybrid: the entry-grade MY27 hybrid fills a gap left by axed petrol engines

The change: a base hybrid after the petrol engines were axed

Chasing Cars notes that the absence of an entry-grade hybrid was a sore point when Kia launched its facelifted Sportage in mid 2025, and that much has changed since. The 1.6-litre turbo and 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engines were dropped from the Australian range earlier this year, leaving only diesel and petrol-hybrid powertrains. The MY27 S Hybrid fills the hole left in what was a much broader MY26 line-up, becoming the cheapest Sportage variant in current guise. ¹

Kia Australia's MY26 move to introduce a new entry-level S Hybrid was reported by CarExpert at the time as a new base model that undercut the Toyota RAV4, and the 2026 range update brought more kit across the range alongside price rises of $500 to $4000. The S Hybrid has since carried into the 2027 model year line-up. ³

Price: offer, list and drive-away figures on different bases

Chasing Cars reports the MY27 S Hybrid at $44,450 list price excluding on-road costs in front-wheel drive, with a driveaway offer of $44,490 at the time of review. It notes that on list price the S Diesel, available only in all-wheel drive, is actually cheaper at $43,890 list, but the S Hybrid's driveaway offer made it $2500 cheaper than the diesel S at $46,990 driveaway at review time. Chasing Cars judges that the offer price ought to stick because it places the base Sportage in the same pricing tier as key rivals, whereas at a higher regular price point the hybrid Kia would sail out of realistic contention on value. ¹

CarExpert's 2027 Sportage page shows a different basis: drive-away pricing from $48,224 for the S to $65,506 for the GT-Line, based on a Sydney location and noting prices may vary between states and may not reflect current market pricing or dealer offers. Its range page also lists S drive-away at $48,224, SX at $50,817, SX+ at $55,647 and GT-Line at $61,863 for MY27. These figures are not directly comparable with Chasing Cars' offer pricing, as the CarExpert page does not specify which powertrain the base S figure refers to and the two outlets' numbers were captured at different times. ⁵

Chasing Cars places the S Hybrid's offer price against related rivals: the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid at $44,990 driveaway and Nissan X-Trail e-Power FWD at $45,990 driveaway, with pricier self-charging rivals including the Honda CR-V e:HEV X at $49,900 driveaway and Toyota RAV4 GX FWD at $50,723 driveaway. ¹

Powertrain and efficiency claims

The front-drive S Hybrid uses Kia's 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor plumbed in downstream at the six-speed automatic transmission, producing 173kW and 367Nm combined — an extra 4kW and 17Nm over the 2025 mid-life update figures, per Chasing Cars. The e-motor's 264Nm, drawn from a 1.5kWh lithium-ion battery, aids low-speed tractability. The underlying petrol engine is ostensibly the defunct 132kW/265Nm 1.6-litre turbo unit. ¹

Kia claims 4.9L/100km combined for the front-wheel-drive hybrid, which Chasing Cars found genuine in real-world running, and the car runs on 91RON fuel. All-wheel-drive hybrid versions claim 5.4L/100km combined, 3.6L urban and 6.5L highway. Chasing Cars estimates almost 1000km of touring range. ¹

CarExpert's range data corroborates the 173kW/367Nm hybrid output as the most powerful figure in the current Australian Sportage line-up, alongside the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel at 137kW/416Nm, with fuel efficiency across the range of 4.9 to 6.3L/100km and braked towing capacity of 1900kg. ⁵³

Equipment in the entry grade

Chasing Cars details the S specification: 17-inch alloys with a space-saver spare, cloth trim, mechanical front seat adjustment, and the familiar 12.3-inch media touchscreen without satellite navigation, paired with a 4.0-inch driver display styled to mimic the GT-Line's 12.3-inch unit. Dual-zone climate control and wireless (or USB-C wired) smartphone mirroring are included. The S and SX carry the same broad ADAS suite as the GT-Line except for Highway Driving Assist, reverse parking collision avoidance, surround and blind-spot view monitoring, and an auto-dimming mirror. ¹

Inside, Chasing Cars found the second row very roomy with generous knee and head room, and a 586-litre boot — well up on the 543 litres offered by diesel versions. Criticisms included hard, shiny plastic door cards, blanked-off console panels and the absence of lumbar adjustment and remote rear seat-folding levers versus the SX. The persistent need to re-disable ADAS interventions after each restart was flagged as a chronic annoyance. ¹

Driving impressions and running costs from the Chasing Cars test

Chasing Cars scored the S Hybrid 7.0 overall with 7.5 for drivability. On 17-inch wheels with tall sidewalls, the tester found a fine blend of compliance and body control, with predictable and confident handling in dry and wet conditions, and called the turbocharged hybrid powertrain quieter, more responsive and more refined than the 2.5-litre RAV4 hybrid the reviewer runs as a long-termer, though slightly thirstier than that car's mid-four-litre consumption. ¹

On ownership, Chasing Cars lists five years of servicing at $2613 (averaging $522.60 per visit) with 12-month/10,000km intervals, alongside Kia's seven-year unlimited-kilometre warranty. Budget Direct told the outlet the median annual comprehensive premium purchased for a new Kia Sportage between 1 August 2025 and 1 August 2026 was $1367, with individual circumstances and policy terms varying. ¹

CarExpert's listing independently confirms the seven-year unlimited-kilometre warranty and 12-month service interval for the 2027 Sportage range, and shows Australian sales of 22,210 in 2024, 19,137 in 2025 and 11,187 year-to-date in 2026 based on VFACTS and EVC data. ⁵

Overseas context and what is not yet clear

In the United States, Car and Driver describes the 2027 Sportage Hybrid as carrying over with minimal changes, rating it 8.5/10, with the front-wheel-drive powertrain newly extended beyond the base LX to S and EX trims for 2027, and US MSRP spanning $32,085 to $48,885. MotorTrend ranks it its top-ranked compact hybrid SUV and details the five US trims, with the LX at $32,085 and S at $32,785. US figures are not comparable with Australian pricing, which is set on a different basis and market. ⁴²

Looking further ahead, CarExpert reports the next-generation Sportage has been spied testing in Europe with a more angular look, ahead of its expected Australian arrival in 2027 — an expectation CarExpert qualifies rather than a confirmed launch date. Meanwhile, CarExpert notes the current 2027 model's S Hybrid was reviewed by its own James Wong four months ago as the cheapest Sportage with the best ride in the range. No confirmed Australian delivery timing for the MY27 S Hybrid beyond its current availability is stated in the sources reviewed. ⁵³