The 2014 Kia Sportage is revised and wants to steal the compact SUV crossover market, which is dominated by the 2014 Nissan Qashqai. The competition in the market is quite interesting. Those SUVs that were tremendously great and popular a year ago are no longer those that are the most popular.
The Kia Sportage was first introduced in 2010 and it caused a lot of stir because of the modern styling, great features as standard and practical interior. Nissan Qashqai changed the game and now the competition between the two crossovers are great. With this in mind, it is quite obvious that we have to compare the 2014 models to see which one is the best.
Panoramic Roof
Nissan Qashqai over Acenta Premium offers a glass fixed roof that goes right from the windscreen top to over C pillars. The interior ends up feeling airy and bright. The blind will keep your cabin cool so you do not have to worry about parking in the sunlight. Kia Sportage 2014 ups the ante and goes further with a front selection of the roof slides back. The opening is big, right above the passengers and drivers.
Lights
Both SUVs offer LED lighting technology. The Nissan Qashqai 2014 has a more sophisticated look. It currently uses energy saving light bulbs for its headlamps. For the day, DRLs (daytime running lights) are available. Kia Sportage offers LED lights and DRLs but will use xenons for the main and dipped beams.
Emissions
The 2014 Kia Sportage offers ecoDynamics, which includes various features like stop-start. The Sportage thus have a really good CO2 output. However, it is still higher than that of the Nissan Qashqai 2014.
Verdict
No matter how we look at things, the Nissan Qashqai 2014 is the best crossover SUV on the market. It has an advantage when compared to the revised 2014 Kia Sportage. The crossover is more comfortable and refined when compared to the other model. We have better fuel economy and low emissions, which means better running costs. The interior is versatile and the equipment included is quite decent.
We should add that the 2014 Kia Sportage is a pretty good crossover SUV as the updates did improve the 2013 model. However, the extra revisions are not enough to make the crossover lead the pack. Kia has to also work more on the emissions. For some buyers the Kia Sportage will be very attractive but it is quite obvious that most will go for the Nissan Qashqai.
