KIA Stinger is on its way out: it will stop being sold in 2023

Just four years ago, the Kia Stinger was presented in Mallorca. The Korean brand claimed it was the most expensive car in its lineup and that it would be the top of the range. But the passage of time has shown that it is a model that has not won over its customers. In fact, sales have been so low that it is set to disappear from the market within a few months.

And this is not a car of poor quality or limited performance. It is a car that set out to offer users a generous level of equipment and a powerful engine with good performance. Sales were expected to reach 1,500 units a month, but reality turned out very differently.

In its home market of South Korea, Kia has not managed to sell more than 1,500 units during 2022. Sales in the rest of the markets have not been encouraging either. This marks the end of the model, a decline that had been apparent for some time. The causes of this sales failure may be varied, but the launch of the Genesis G70 has probably played a big part.

The Kia Stinger represented a step forward towards the Premium segment of the Korean brand, but that space is already occupied by Genesis, which is nothing less than the Premium sub-brand of the Hyundai-Kia group. It amounts to competing against itself, and a potential buyer will prefer to invest their money in a brand that already offers that quality rather than in one geared towards more practical vehicles.

The successor to the Kia Stinger

The Kia Stinger is disappearing, but do we know yet which model will replace it?

In principle, nothing is known yet, although Kia has announced a new, fully electric model that could arrive in 2025. This could be a coupé-style saloon, similar to the Stinger and serving as its effective successor. Kia intends to offer a total of 11 electric models by that date, so it is quite possible that the current version will be dropped and replaced by one with an electric drivetrain.

That would leave the Premium segment covered, with no clear competition from Genesis. Is this a possibility the Korean brand is considering? We will have to wait a little before Kia makes the corresponding announcements, but what is clear is that the last Kia Stinger will roll off the assembly line in April 2023.