Kia Stinger is back! New-gen hi-po electric model in the works: Report

The Kia Stinger looks to be making a dramatic return with the company president admitting work has begun on a high-performance electric sedan to sit at the top of its global range.

Speaking to Korean YouTuber MotorsJason recently Kia President Ho-Sung Song said the car maker needed a flagship model to draw more people to the brand.

“What kind of model can help build the brand? This is what we are now studying,” Song said.

The news is surprising given that Kia appeared to reverse its decision on a Stinger replacement last year. The plans were moving forward for what was codenamed the Kia GT1 and leaked details of its output, battery size and other specifications appeared on the internet.

Now from what we’ve learnt by MotorsJason the GT1 project may have been revived as the company looks for a halo car to sit atop the brand’s range.

A halo car is common in many vehicle manufacturer’s line-ups. Toyota has the Supra, Nissan has the Z and MG has the Cyberster for example. These models don’t sell in large numbers, but they bring excitement to the brand whose bread and butter is made from SUVs. 

There haven’t been any official designs or concepts released by Kia, but the creative minds of the car enthusiast world have created their own predictions of what the new-gen Stinger EV could look like.

As with the original Stinger the design of the new halo model would almost certainly bring it in line with the rest of the brand’s range. 

Kia’s new sedan line-up appears to be inspired by the original Stinger’s look. The most recent addition to Kia’s Australian line-up is the K4, which resembles a mini original Stinger with its fastback styling.

A halo car for Kia would need to be more than just a sporty version of what’s currently offered. The vehicle needs to be almost a one-off and showcase the best the brand can do from dynamic performance to technology.

And while the world seems to be revisiting combustion engines again as electric vehicle take-up appears to be slowing Kia will most likely make its high performance flagship purely electric.

“The EV market is getting stronger, and I do not worry long term about EV uptake,” Song said.

If Kia was to use the same E-GMP platform as EV6 and the recently debuted EV9 GT the EV Stinger could also have the same dual motors but with a combined output of 500kW and a supercar-rivalling 0-100km/h time of under three seconds.

It was in 2022 that Kia’s announced production for the original Stinger would end the following year. 

Introduced in 2017 the Stinger saw the return of the high-performance sedan following Holden and Ford’s retirement of the locally made Commodore and Falcon.

The most powerful Stinger, the GT, had a V6 petrol engine which produced 274kW/510Nm and had 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds.