Kia has admitted that the Stinger is not doing as well as hoped, casting doubts on whether there will be a sequel to the Korean carmaker’s rear-wheel drive halo car.
Speaking to CarAdvice at the IAA show in Frankfurt, Gregory Guillaume, VP and senior chief designer at Kia’s design studio in Germany said that they had higher hopes in North America compared to other markets. “At the moment I’m not sure it’s doing as good as we hoped. We never really expected to do massive volumes,” he said.
“It was a halo car. We did want to be successful at least in America, the market where we thought there is a chance that it works. We had very high expectations for that market and it’s very difficult to start in such segments,” added Guillaume, who hopes that Kia gives the Stinger another chance because it takes time to get established in a new segment.
“The beginning of my career was at Audi. I remember… it took three generations of the A8 to be seen on eye level to a (BMW) 7 Series or (Mercedes-Benz) S-Class. You have to persevere. If you’re entering these segments (whether) it’s premium or image vehicles, you have to give yourself a bit of time.
“The company will have to be ready to understand that. I think we should continue (even though) the sedan market is getting more and more difficult worldwide,” the designer said, adding that the car’s looks and drive isn’t the problem, but the positioning of the halo model and its price.
Guillaume has personal connection with the Stinger, as it was his team and studio that brought it to life. “Stinger is a European design. From beginning to end the concept was from us, the idea of making such a car was from us, and we followed it all the way through. It’s really our baby and the one we’re most proud of,” he declared. The Stinger started life as the GT Concept from Frankfurt 2011.
On whether there will be a next generation Stinger, Guillaume told the Aussie outlet: “We have to see if Stinger continues – first of all if it will be continuing, which I really hope so – and if we think this is the format to continue in the future.” Will it be an EV? “As you know there’s a lot going on with electrification, so it could be that Stinger becomes something else. I don’t know. We’re not there yet. We’ve got a bit of time,” he added.
The Kia Stinger was launched in Malaysia in July 2018, with the 2.0 T-GDI GT-Line priced at RM239,888 and the 365 hp/510 Nm 3.3L V6 GT going for RM309,888. Earlier this year, Naza Kia announced new SST-inclusive prices that went up by quite a bit – at RM264,888, the 2.0T is RM25,000 up from the launch price, while the RM383,888 V6 is RM74,000 costlier. Making a left field choice comes at a high price indeed.
GALLERY: Kia Stinger 2.0 GT-Line
GALLERY: Kia Stinger GT
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For me the price are quite to expensive.. if its around 160k-200k should be okay for me.
Kia is too late in the game, for that kind of Premium Halo car people tends to go for German marque or Lexus.
So much for some claimed to be real Asian BMW. Stinger is a failure.
264k RM for a kia? definitely better off with merc or bmw.
only people with budget constraint will have this kind of thinking…
People without budget constraint will not even think about Kia. If Kia want to sell at this price, build up the brand image first
I do not have a budget constraint, but if I am buying a sporty car that I like (in Malaysia), I’d buy the Stinger. Smart people do not buy into a brand image, they see value in a product. Only fools, the timid, and the showoffs go for the safe harbors such as Mercedes/BMW.
You Sir, it is people like you who laughed at, and steered away from underdog brands like Xiaomi or Tesla, when they first launched. Shame on you.
seems alot of low budget people out there. alot more c class / 3 series to a stinger otr. perhaps u need to school them too.
If no budget constraint,i’ll definitely buy the Stinger, only people with low self esteem relying so much on brand.
If budget is no constraints, why stop at Stinger?
Buy a stinger and a stingray
Halo, it is not the budget issue. If I have this much of money, which car (or brand) will I normally go for?
I can not deny that this car is good. Many car reviews also commented that it is as good as German car but in reality, at such price, the logo will not help to support its performance and quality level.
For close to RM400k, the first sedan that come into my mind is Volvo S90. I think if you ask 100 people, for the budget of RM400k, which sedan will they buy, you should be happy if 1 of them say Stinger!
They need to be patience and sustain the value to build their brand first
proves that brand defines the sales market.. ppl wont spend so much on a brand that produces cheap cars.. cheap brands will always be cheap regardless how much effort they put in to increase the value..
on the other hand, this car could be in limited numbers and could be a rare gem in the future
Mazda should take heed of this lesson. Just by upping price and specs, doesn’t make a brand more ‘premium’.
of course la, u hear the brand value..if not why a product need a brand name..
Impossible! Basher says KIA sales is No1 in USA and that Stinger is selling like hot cakes! Is KIA VP lying or does he know more than his fanatical supporter living in dreamland?
good car..wrong badge
Guillaume said: “it took three generations of the A8 to be seen on eye level to a (BMW) 7 Series or (Mercedes-Benz) S-Class”
Is he sure about that? Most who are considering either S or 7 wouldn’t look at A8 unless they cannot afford the former 2 luxobarges.
Your statement in not correct, In its own home turf of Europe as well as in the US, it is considered an equal both in term of status and luxury. Maybe locally it isn’t so, due to lack of knowledge. Current and previous Generations has won numerous comparisons against S-class and 7-series.
Wrong development & marketing strategy from Guillaume & the team…normally a brand new performance car model marketing strategy will always associate with Motorsport with reputable team’s name as well podium winning, with these successful achievement then your marketing strategy only need to package with “limited edition model” & low volume for selected market’s introduction prior to global scale marketing introduction later for “production model”…this strategy always worked for those high performance model as the buyer also want their car to be “special”…so later those who’s cant afford “limited edition model” will buy “production model”…
No pedigree – respect is earned
Not too surprising to me considering there’s a KIA badge on it and people will be hard pressed to fork out that amount to buy one.
The lowest spec for Stinger is the equivalent spec for the highest spec for BMW 3 series, Mercs C Class, and Audi A4 (minus M3, C63 and RS4 respectively), and yet a lot cheaper than than 3 of these marvelous cars. So Kia need to play the right card to promote this Halo car to entice potential buyers from the norms.
Kia Stinger is actually like A5 sportback…
309k for the v6 version is seriously tempting compared to Benz C43 selling for 420k++ and the 340i only available on special order. But they just have to go and up the price to 380k. Makes no sense when it’s only 40k diff.
thanks to the hike in kastam tariff duty…
Kia Malaysia had no test drive units and no stock when I went to check out the car. If you booked that day, maybe you could get the car in six months but they weren’t sure. It really felt like they weren’t interested in selling Stingers.
Omg, please do some research, the stinger is a rwd luxury vehicle, competing with the a5 sportback and 3 series GT. It has more features and more performance than either of those cars when you compare the same trim levels & prices. But people don’t know any of this because “hur durr it doesn’t say MarCedes aT tHe FroNt, Y dis Kar so ExPanSiVe oNe”.
Well, the sales number shows that’s exactly the market sentiment. Heritage and prestige can’t be built in a day or in this case through 1 model. So many reviewers have sing praises for this car and yet they just can’t get the sales number up.
I’m surprised it didn’t sell well in the US as well. They are more open there, where Lexus sells very well. Here in Malaysia, people think Lexus as rebadged Toyota. Unless Kia has its own luxury branding, the Stinger will never sell here. Having said that, the Stinger is a gorgeous car. And is luxuriously appointed. So glad to have seen 2 (so far lah) on Malaysian roads.
I’m suprised too..
Do like Mitsubishi did. Their Eclipse brand was dead, but now resurrected as sports SUV. Im sure there is a slot for sports SUV in KIA lineup.
So its quite clear the pricing is wrong
Now lets revise this and put it at 160k max
There is a reason why Toyota had to create Lexus to operate in the premium market.
You can’t operate a brand that sell a picanto and expect people to pay rm350k for a Stinger.
(Majority of) People dont just pay high price to get from A to B. They need validation from their peers.
I’m suprised too..
I’m surprised too…. that they didn’t think it would fail before coming out with Stinger under their KIA branding. This unlike Hyundai which spun off Genesis as a higher luxury marque. Evidently, it was a bad decision by KIA.
design wise…looks pretty boring already
It may have been a success if it was a Sports SUV instead of a Sports Coupe. Coupe numbers are shrinking…
After reading the comments section here, i feel ought to stand up for Kia. It’s not their fault and as Guillaume had stated, there isn’t much flaw in the Stinger compared to other alternatives. It is the car industry that is experiencing a shift in customers’ taste in SUV and crossovers.
Secondly, I’d blame the Malaysian car industry that f*cked up the brand image of Kia, especially the Stinger in this case. For example, I’d you live in the USA, you’re paying 50k USD for a V6 Stinger GT, but unfortunately you guys have to fork out at least 75k USD in Malaysia. Blame your f*cked up Ministry of Transport for the crazy high taxes + duty. You guys are paying more than the Aussies!
With the Stinger, Kia is essentially the underdog, the David vs Goliath, the Xiaomi vs Samsung, the value-for-money vs brand pedigree. If you are a skeptic, I’d advise you to pay a little more for a Volvo or BMW. But if you’re an adventurous contrarian and not afraid of taking risks, you’ll be rewarded by the sheer driving fun the Stinger has to offer. The Stinger is a halo for a reason.
Kia has come a looong way as Malaysians would agree, as it was once compared to Proton or Perodua. In reference to Guillaume’s comment, Proton took more than 3 generations and 30yrs, yet it failed to survive and compete under the terrible local leadership. It is doing much better now, under Geely.
in oversea…they giving away 20-30% by the dealer to get rid of this car…latest kia models have so much latest tech as compare to this model…its a failure model…