Kia Stinger gets the boot as sales tumble

Touted as a BMW 5 Series rival, production of the Stinger will end next year.

Kia will plug the plug on its rear-wheel-drive BMW 5 Series rival next year.

Speculation about the future of the Kia Stinger has reportedly been resolved with a report from South Korea claiming the marque’s first rear-wheel-drive sport sedan will be shelved with no successor planned next year.

Despite benefitting from a mid-life facelift in the latter stages of last year in addition to two new engines depending on the market, The Korean Car Blog, citing to an alleged future production plan document tabled by Kia, claims Stinger assembly at the Sohari Plant will wrap-up in the second quarter of 2022 as a result of focus shifting towards electric vehicles and the planned hybrid version of the Carnival.

First reported two years ago as possibly facing the axe with sporadic reports having emerged throughout last year, the online forum reports that Stinger sales have remained poor with only 1 854 units moved in its home market between January and June this year, nowhere near the projected 1 500 units a month.

At the same time, motor1.com states that sales in the United States, touted as a key Stinger market, have been similarly underwhelming with a total of 6 498 units moved between January and June. Aside from its introduction in 2017, Stinger sales peaked a year later at 16 806 in States, before embarking on a gradual slide with only 12 556 examples sold last year.

Touted as a BMW 5 Series rival, the facelift Stinger has already been given the thumbs down for a local market return with Kia having previously touted it as a limited edition model offered in a batch of 30, including two press vehicles, that were snapped up in quick succession via a dedicated Kia website between July and September 2018.