Kia Stinger 2022: Next year could be Australia's last chance to buy an affordable performance sedan following the demise of Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon and Chrysler 300

The Kia Stinger was always facing an uphill battle, trying to replace the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in the hearts and driveways of Australian sports sedan fans. 

The South Korean brand produced a compelling car, but after decades of the locally designed and engineered models, were Australians ready to accept an imported performance sedan?

Sales in 2021 are down 6.5 per cent year-to-date to August, which is continuing a trend that began before the pandemic-induced sales drop. 

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In 2019, the last year for the pandemic hit supply and reduced demand, the Stinger finished with only 1773 sales, a 9.4 per cent decline on its 2018 sales.

This makes the reports earlier this year that production of the Stinger is set to end by the middle of 2022 not too surprising, but is still disappointing. 

That’s because once the Stinger is gone, so too will affordable, rear-wheel drive performance sedans that were once so popular in this country.

The current Stinger range begins at $50,050 before-on road costs for the 2.0-litre 200S, but the 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 range starts at just $53,830 for the 330S. 

If the Stinger does bow out by the end of 2022 that will leave rear-wheel drive sport sedan buyers forced to look at the likes of the Stinger’s twin-under-the-skin, Genesis G70, which is priced from $75,876. Beyond that you’ll need more than $100,000 to get into the likes of the BMW M340i ($101,900) and Mercedes-AMG C43 (from $113,576).

The hard truth is, despite Kia Australia’s public confidence in the car and its role as a brand-building hero model, it never sold in the numbers the company would have liked. Sales have hovered around the 100 units per month mark for most of the Stinger’s life in Australia, and while relatively steady, they have begun to decline in recent years.

The good news for Kia is the decline of the Stinger comes at the same time the brand prepares to launch its new hero model – the all-electric EV6 GT. In many respects, the Stinger represents the previous iteration of the brand, which followed a conventional path laid out by more established brands.

The EV6, meanwhile, underlines Kia’s new image and direction with more electrified models to follow suit. 

The EV6 GT flagship, which will launch in 2023, will be the brand’s most powerful model yet, comfortably ahead of the Stinger, with 430kW/740Nm; compared to the Stinger V6 and its 274kW/510Nm.