Kia Stinger vs Honda Civic

What's the difference?

There is nothing quite like a car company occasionally building a car that could be considered a risk. And there are all kinds of risks in the car business - the market isn't ready for that car, people don't identify your brand with this or that type of vehicle, the list goes on. And it's long. It's very easy for me to sit on the sidelines and say, "Pft, what were they thinking?" Few cars land on your driveway without years of thinking having already gone into their development.

The Kia Stinger is the kind of car that would have caused lots of thinking and plenty of hand-wringing at Kia HQ in Korea. Not because it was a bad idea - it wasn't. Not because it's a bad car - it is, in fact, the opposite. And not because SUVs have already changed the way we look at cars - Kia has done well out of that.

It's just that Kia has never produced a car like the Stinger. A five-door coupe-sedan, rear-wheel drive and with a focus on driver dynamics. Most of us know very well how the Stinger GT burst on to the scene in a blaze of well-deserved glory. It's not all about the GT, though. There's a whole range of Stingers and just below that very accomplished sports sedan is the Stinger GT-Line.

I’m just going to cut to the chase here. This Honda Civic hybrid is a good car. A great one, even.

But for some reason, nobody is really buying it. And it’s not just because it’s not an SUV – it has been outsold in its segment this year by the the BMW 1 Series, the Mercedes A-Class, the MG4 EV, and the VW Golf. Premium and non-premium alike, they’ve all got the little Honda licked.

So, what’s going on? A CarsGuide investigation is required. Stick around and we’ll try to figure this out together.