It is not the first time we heard rumours about this, but now we have known that the Stinger will be axed. Kia decided to stop production of the 1st and only generation Stinger by the second quarter of 2022, despite is was expected to keep on production till 2024.
According to the local industry sources, during July 16th Kia released its production plans for all of its South Korean plants, including the Sohari Plant, for the 2022 year and revealed bad news for Stinger. According to that plan, Kia will cease the production of the Stinger by the second quarter of 2022 after several adjustments due to continued sluggish sales.
During earlier 2022, Kia will transforms the lines at Sohari Plant to start the mass production of electrified vehicles such as the Carnival Hybrid variant so this is the first time that the Stinger fate has been formalized.
Stinger, which was first released in 2017, was much different from the existing Kia line-up at the time. There was not rear wheel drive sedan except for the flagship K9 (K900 for overseas markets) that its oriented for another type of customer. So Kia launched a dynamic design and mid-range fastback, similar to the K7 but with a longer wheelbase, a 3.3-liter Twin Turbo V6 gasoline engine and the metioned RWD.
The Stinger is an unique RWD sports coupe these days
However, in the same year, when Genesis released the G70 sports sedan based on the same platform and powertrain, the mood changed. In 2017, when the two cars were released, the Stinger sold more than the G70, but the G70’s dominance continued from 2018.
Back at the end of 2020, Kia added a 2.5 liter turbo engine and launched the ‘Stinger Meister’, a partially modified car that refined its marketability, but failed to reverse the trend. While the 2020 G70 sold 7,910 units, the Stinger only shipped 3,525 units. The results from January to June this year were 4,437 G70s vs. 1,854 Stingers.
At first, the industry predicted that Kia would discontinue the Stinger around 2024, considering the replacement cycle of domestic cars. However, due to continued sluggish sales, it is confirmed that the schedule has been slightly advanced. At the time of the launch of the Stinger, Kia expected 1,500 units per month as a sales target, but the performance of the Stinger in the last two years was less than half of the target.
So know, will Kia replace it with an electric sedan? Or it’s the EV6 already kind of a replacement?
