- Kia will end production of the Stinger in April 2023.
- Low sales of the model explain the company's decision.
- In Canada, only 491 models were sold in the first six months of 2022.
The Kia Stinger showed up on the market in 2018 and, right from the start, critics were unanimous: Kia had surpassed itself with this first true sportscar. It was very luxurious and had a great design, offering, for a fraction of the price, the experience of a luxury GT car.
Unfortunately, despite the presence of a hatchback, the Stinger was never an SUV and by the time it showed up, it was clear that many buyers found it attractive but opted for a utility vehicle anyway.
As a result, sales never took off. And as is often the case with a singular model, you get good results at the beginning, as buyers are seduced and move on, but then the hype dies down.
As a result, it wasn't long before rumors of its demise surfaced. Of course, Kia wasn't going to eliminate it after something like 24 months on the market. However, it became increasingly clear as time went on that a second generation was not going to happen.
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And add to that the company's strong commitment to electrification. Last year, it was thought that 2022 would be the Stinger's last, but Kia has confirmed its return for 2023. The latter will be short-lived, as we learn via the Auto Times site that production of the model was to end next April.
To give you an idea of its low popularity, in South Korea, it is the car that has sold the least on the local market since the beginning of the year when only 1499 units found takers. In the U.S., sales totaled 6,643 units as of September 30. At home, in the first six months of the year, 491 models had been sold. The model's best year was the first full one on the market, 2018; 16,806 transactions on the U.S. side, 1682 deliveries in Canada.
To find some semblance of a replacement, you'll have to look to the EV6 GT model. Designer Karim Habib, who spent part of his teenage and young adult life in Montreal said last year that it would fill a similar role to the Stinger in the lineup.