KIA - Would you buy one?

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Vesper Martini

I don't think Kia actually did anything wrong with the Stinger it looked to tick all the boxes.
Maybe if they just called it Stinger and dropped the badge, public perception is a hard thing to shake.

Also I think a lot of buyers bought from habit especially Camry buyers.

Even former Falcodore owners wouldn't buy a Camry let alone a Kia.
So they changed to a twin cab or SUV instead

Yes and no in my opinion.

First off, I want to say that I actually liked the Stinger, in both concept and styling. Kia was and should still be applauded for giving this car a go, launching a medium-large sedan at a time when almost every other car company was abandoning the segment. Not only that, making it RWD with powerful engines. The styling did polarize a touch, but at least they had a go at making something other than another Audi A6 or BMW 5-Series.

There are a couple of key areas where Kia missed the mark with the Stinger, some particular to the Australian market.

-At the time, Kia thought they were in the box seat with the Stinger. It arrived literally the month Holden and Toyota closed their factories. Kia thought they would scoop up Falcon and Commodore buyers with the Stinger.

-The reality was, a lot of those Falcon and Commodore buyers were not in the market for a new car, most having waited until the final year/s of production to get a last of the line. A lot of those buyers were also only buying sedan because of the history and sentimentality of the Aussie made cars. Fleet buyers were not going to get the sort of slash and burn pricing from Kia that Ford and Holden offered in an attempt to keep metal moving.

-I know this is a cliche, but it didn't have a V8. While many people bought turbo six-cylinder Falcon's, that had a character all of its own and had a lot of legacy to fall back on. This in turn also relates to the Kia badge, at the time paying $60,000+ for Kia was not a common thing.

-At launch, the car lacked finesse. Handling was almost there but lacking the finer control and feedback of the VF Commodore. The engines were not pleasant to listen too, something that V8 Falcon's and Commodores for the same price aced, even the Turbo Barra had a more refined note. Some interior plastics were chintzy for the price. All of this would have been stuff that would have been refined with model updates and generation changes, but clearly the sales worldwide did not warrant effort.

The Stinger failed for a variety of reasons, some of it Kia's fault and some of it a buyer sentiment fault.