Kia Motors will be shelving their plans to develop a small roadster aimed at enthusiasts. Despite reports that the company had already approved a new sports car for production, overseas marketing head Lee Soon-nam now confirmes that the brand is not yet ready for such an offering.
“The volume will be smaller and then we can’t enhance the brand image fully,” Lee said in an interview.
The Korean company in 2011 introduced its four-door GT concept, which was followed by the two-door GT4 Stinger concept unveiled this year in Detroit. The latter appeared to represent a new “affordable” sports car, aimed at the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ and Ford Mustang, among others.
Lee late last year publicly claimed the company had plans to build the roadster, targeting “the end of 2016 or early 2017,” however the latest comments suggest a different mindset currently prevails among Kia leadership.
“If a Chinese brand introduced a roadster, would it affect customer perception?” Lee now asks. “I don’t think so.“
