Goodbye to another rear-drive performance sedan? Kia Stinger faces chopping block in 2023: Report

Despite being on track to have its best year of Australian sales in 2022, the Kia Stinger won’t be available for much longer according to reports from South Korea saying production of the sedan is set to end next year.

Introduced in mid-2017, the Stinger was the first proper crack at a dedicated performance model from Kia and quickly seemed intent on filling the sports sedan-shaped hole in the hearts of Australian car buyers after the demise of the locally made Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon.

But with no new-generation Kia Stinger on the horizon as well as reports of its impending demise, that sedan-sized hole may once again return.

South-Korean publication Auto Times reported that industry sources have confirmed that Kia plans to cease production of the Stinger completely in April 2023.

According to reports, the reasons for Kia’s decision are relatively unsurprising: the lack of sales for the Stinger globally compared to the rest of the brand’s stable, as well as the industry push toward electrification and the inability to turn the Stinger into a full-fledged EV.

While the Stinger performs relatively well in Australia compared to other markets, it’s still not even close to the best-selling Kia models locally.

In 2018, the first full year of the Stinger being on sale, a period one would expect relatively high demand, the Stinger sold 1957 units, compared to 9040 Holden Commodores as the Australian-made models made their exit.

That year, Kia sold 58,815 cars, making the Stinger a little over 3.3 per cent of its sales that year.

In its South Korean home market, the Stinger has sold just 23,657 units across its lifetime, a tiny fraction of the almost 3 million Kias sold in that time. The brand holds a more-than 30 per cent market share in South Korea, behind only Hyundai.

The Stinger’s slow sales (globally, that is) mean we’re unlikely to see the Stinger enter a second generation with electrification, as cars like the Kia EV6 are likely to take up the mantle as next-gen performance cars from the brand.

While it’s been rumoured that the Stinger would stop coming to Australia as early as 2022, the six-year cycle which lines up to 2023 makes sense compared to the ages of other models.

Earlier this year, Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith told media he hoped imports of the Stinger would continue “for as long as possible”.

“We haven’t heard anything official from Korea regarding its end of production, so from our point of view, the longer the Stinger goes, the better it is for us as a company.”