What Happened To The KIA Stinger Sports Sedan
Kia introduced the Stinger in 2018, and its production will come to an end six years later in the last quarter of 2024. The Stinger was launched in Malaysia by Naza Kia on July 10th 2018 and because it was fully imported it had a very high price tag. Only 8 units were sold and there is one of the 8 units on sale right now at RM199k.
At launch, the 3.3-litre V6 GT variant was priced at RM309,888 on-the-road without insurance while the 2.0-litre GT-Line variant was priced at RM239,888 on-the-road without insurance.
From our research, no AP holders brought the Stinger in as a used car and so it remains very rare and a forgotten great sports sedan.
The Stinger was supposed to be Kia’s flagship when it was unveiled in 2017 to challenge the same year Volkswagen Passat, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class and even the Audi A5. It was engineered to deliver an entertaining drive and high build quality to match.
This Kia will surprise you with its many global awards. Since its launch in 2018, the Stinger has been awarded the Roadshow by CNET 2018 ‘Shift Award Vehicle of the Year’, ‘Best of the Year’ in the MotorWeek 2018 Drivers’ Choice awards.
This multi-award winning Kia was named ‘Car of the Year’ in Slovakia, ‘Performance Car of the Year’ in the UK and awarded the ‘Trophée Argus 2018’, voted for by leading French media.
In 2018 it also received the ‘iF design award’, one of the most prestigious pan-industrial design awards, while its 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine was named on the Ward’s ’10 Best Engines’ list for 2018.
Together with the above awards, there were also awards like the Business Insider’s Car of the Year for 2018 In Australia, 2018 Best of the Best Award presented by the Canadian automotive media, Best Performance Car of the year 2019 in the UK Car of the Year awards and in New Zealand it was the DriveLife motoring website’s 2018 Hottest Car of the Year.
The same year it also received the ‘Sports Saloon of the Year’ by EVO magazine in UK.
Today, the Kia Stinger has just one real rival and that is the Volkswagen Arteon which recently got retired by Wolfsburg management due to low sales volumes in most mature markets.
Interestingly, the Stinger had a cabin to rival the quality that Jaguar and even Volvo provided. Its engineering was done to supersede Lexus and Infiniti with tough, rigorous tests done around the world.
Now we hear news that the the forgotten Kia Stinger will end production in 2024 after a rather slow six-year run, but enthusiasts can look forward to the all-electric EV6 GT for exhilarating performance in the end of 2024.
Meanwhile, Kia Motors plans to bid farewell to the Stinger with a limited-edition Tribute model, featuring unique upgrades and design details. It will be available in two trim options and have a starting price of USD53,390 which means it will still be way too expensive for Malaysians to buy.
