Kia undecided on 2nd Generation Stinger

[19GT-AWD]

Oh anything but a Stupid Useless Vehicle. Or at least don't call it the stinger. Don't pull a Mitsubishi plz Kia.

How right you are!

SUV's no longer sustain the reason for which they were built. You rarely see them carrying any passengers and most are cleaner than a Lambo.

lol

 

[StingerLover]

I have a Stinger and the 7-seater Hyundai Veracruz. The SUV comes in handy for lugging large items or crowds, but I will ALWAYS drive the Stinger over the Veracruz when possible. I don't ONLY want an SUV.

 

[NS_Stinger]

I'm fine with them going either way. If they continue to make the car I can look forward to eventually upgrading to the new model. If they don't make it anymore I will hang onto the car and use it as a occasional weekend car and hope that it becomes a collectible.

 

[MerlintheMad]

After 18 months of daily driving I am still amazed at all the comments and questions I get about the Stinger. All positive. The Kia badge, when noticed, blows minds and surprises people that Kia makes such a premium looking GT. People who know the car want to know more about it. The popularity of SUVs has just obliterated sedan sales. People like to haul stuff and sit tall, handling be damned. I have made three bonzai runs the FULL length of California and back. Many trips to Salem, OR from Crescent City, CA in fast time through mountains and canyons. At 67 years old, and with some pain issues, I am grateful for how comfortable this car can cruise and how you can drop the hammer and pass with impunity. The drivers of the thousands of neglected and pedestrian BMWs don't even want to look at me when stopped at a light. Kia went through all the effort of turning out a great new model and they can't market it and the dealerships aren't interested in selling it. Too bad.

Drop your last sentence, and I'll give you a "Winner" award. I could have written the rest, including your age (well, in a couple of weeks).

I have a different view of "how the Stinger is doing" market-wise. I think Gregory Guillaume et al. wish for greater sales: "we" always want more sales, can't get enough of those. But, the Stinger met 2018 sales expectations and slightly exceeded them. The market, especially for sedans, took another hit in 2019: the Stinger did comparatively well. How Kia markets the car is the arguable part: I think that they spend as little on advertising as necessary to accomplish the attention getting, and validating, that the Stinger gets. Kia has produced an amazing car: it does everything that Kia designed it to do, and at a competitive price point that blows the competition away. Then, right after that, they come out with the Telluride, which is backordered months. The Telluride attracts mass attention, where the Stinger attracted car enthusiast attention and obtained accolades (which continue to multiply). And that attention returns to the Stinger in process of time. Anyone who buys a Telluride is going to know about the Stinger, from the getgo in most cases. The quality, price point, original concept of the Stinger then rebounds to the Telluride; and any owner of that vehicle is going to be even more proud that their ride comes from the same company that produces this very highly rated, high performance sedan.

 

[TXGT2]

Would you buy if it was electric?

I believe I would buy an electric Stinger, if the performance increased to at least take on a Tesla Performance model car. I’m committed to cars over CUV/SUVs as long as I drive. I enjoy power and handling too much to surrender it.

 

[RVance]

Drop your last sentence, and I'll give you a "Winner" award. I could have written the rest, including your age (well, in a couple of weeks).

I have a different view of "how the Stinger is doing" market-wise. I think Gregory Guillaume et al. wish for greater sales: "we" always want more sales, can't get enough of those. But, the Stinger met 2018 sales expectations and slightly exceeded them. The market, especially for sedans, took another hit in 2019: the Stinger did comparatively well. How Kia markets the car is the arguable part: I think that they spend as little on advertising as necessary to accomplish the attention getting, and validating, that the Stinger gets. Kia has produced an amazing car: it does everything that Kia designed it to do, and at a competitive price point that blows the competition away. Then, right after that, they come out with the Telluride, which is backordered months. The Telluride attracts mass attention, where the Stinger attracted car enthusiast attention and obtained accolades (which continue to multiply). And that attention returns to the Stinger in process of time. Anyone who buys a Telluride is going to know about the Stinger, from the getgo in most cases. The quality, price point, original concept of the Stinger then rebounds to the Telluride; and any owners of that vehicle is going to be even more proud that their ride comes from the same company that produces this very highly rated, high performance sedan.

Harper Motors Ford/Kia in Eureka, CA is the 2nd oldest dealership in CA and the 19th oldest nationally. When they opened, they assembled Model T's off of railroad pallets. Their sales staff was unaware Kia made the K900. Ok, no biggie. I like these guys, BUT...when I went in for the harness recall and my complimentary first oil change I left with 51 lbs. of air in the driver's side tires, 52 pass. front, 50 pass. rear. I checked the service statement and no mention of adding 14 lbs. of air to my tires. Mechanic couldn't "rotate" tires (and did not know about staggers) because they were "different sizes," even after I explained to the service writer that they can be swapped side to side. The car handled like shit on my 80 mile return home. Thank God it wasn't raining with those rock hard Sport Cup 2's. I wrote a very reasonable email to the service manager about this issue. No response. Then the sales manager. Crickets. I realize I'm over-generalizing about Kia dealers not promoting the car, but I'm going to a franchise that prides itself on longevity, service, and sells Roush Mustangs and Shelby's. They just don't care about the Stinger.

 

[Manaz]

I have a Stinger and the 7-seater Hyundai Veracruz. The SUV comes in handy for lugging large items or crowds, but I will ALWAYS drive the Stinger over the Veracruz when possible. I don't ONLY want an SUV.

We have an SUV to tow (a 17" fibreglass boat or a track car - I dislike towing large loads behind small vehicles for safety reasons) and for beach work/light off-road work. It's actually a lot more capable off-road than we are, and it does get used appropriately.

 

[Flameangel]

Rebadgers are scarce and essentially effect nothing!!!

So, with that statement, who cares about rebadging? It doesn't take anything away from the brand because as soon as people see " Stinger " script on the rear that most rebadger's have they can easily " google " and find out what brand of car they are looking at.
Problem solved ! can we move on now ?

 

[turboAWD]

Crescent City? Nice place - we did a run through there (Trees of Mystery) last summer as part of our Bay Area -> Seattle and back road trip.. So much smoke on the way from Grants Pass..

 

[RVance]

Crescent City? Nice place - we did a run through there (Trees of Mystery) last summer as part of our Bay Area -> Seattle and back road trip.. So much smoke on the way from Grants Pass..

This year, too. Inland fires can be a smoke problem. So you are familiar with H199 to Grants Pass from the coast? A great driving road if you can catch it when traffic is light. I was raised in LA/OC during the heyday of the drags and muscle car craze, but CC is a pretty nice place to live. A lot of car guys up here.

 

[twig2121]

I believe I would buy an electric Stinger, if the performance increased to at least take on a Tesla Performance model car. I’m committed to cars over CUV/SUVs as long as I drive. I enjoy power and handling too much to surrender it.

I agree - we decided the stinger is likely our last internal combustion engine. I recently went to a Tesla dealer and found the model S quite similar in shape and practicality of design (hatch, space inside). However, I'm not going to pay 80-100k for a car. The stinger seems extremely well suited to be a model S competitor. I'm confident we'd buy an electric stinger if it becomes available. Like some others here, we just need a fun & fast practical sedan like the stinger and a people mover (we have a pacifica van). I hope Kia has this in mind since they invested a couple hundred million into Rimac whom makes fast electric cars. While the Kia niro is interesting as an affordable electric, it is neither practical enough nor sporty enough for us to buy - it's OK practicality IMO (our measure is 3 kids & a minivan).

 

[19GT-AWD]

It's surprising to me that Gregory Guillaume says sales were expected to be higher on the Stinger. It hasn't been far off in numbers from its competitors like the A5/S5 and BMW 4 series...

Yup.

A5/S5 has been in production for 12 model years, Stinger Base/GT for 2 model years.

Currently ...

KIA Stinger Base/GT Sales (8/17 release thru 08/19)
US - 27,084
Europe - 7,279
TOTAL - 34,363

Audi A5/S5 Sales (same period as above)
US - 53,775
Europe - 101,341
TOTAL - 155,116

Europeans still clearly stuck on the "badge" thing. lol

Give them time, they'll come around.

 

[TwiceStung]

Yup.

A5/S5 has been in production for 12 model years, Stinger Base/GT for 2 model years.

Currently ...

KIA Stinger Base/GT Sales (8/17 release thru 08/19)
US - 27,084
Europe - 7,279
TOTAL - 34,363

Audi A5/S5 Sales (same period as above)
US - 53,775
Europe - 101,341
TOTAL - 155,116

Europeans still clearly stuck on the "badge" thing. lol

Give them time, they'll come around.

No, they won’t. Been there many times and work for a German company.

 

[turboAWD]

This year, too. Inland fires can be a smoke problem. So you are familiar with H199 to Grants Pass from the coast? A great driving road if you can catch it when traffic is light. I was raised in LA/OC during the heyday of the drags and muscle car craze, but CC is a pretty nice place to live. A lot of car guys up here.

I wouldn't say "familiar" - we did the trip one time, Grants Pass -> Crescent City. Half of the way, the smoke just kept getting thicker and thicker, then it just abruptly cleared up, IIRC, somewhere around O'Brien. That was the "Cave fire" or something like that - the day after it started. We stayed in Grants Pass the night before, and the hotel was getting overrun with people who had evacuated..

It's certainly a nice area, near the coast. Probably a great place to retire. Wish there were some tech jobs in places like that, so we wouldn't all have to pack in like rats here in the Bay.. Then again, you're probably glad there aren't

 

[RVance]

I wouldn't say "familiar" - we did the trip one time, Grants Pass -> Crescent City. Half of the way, the smoke just kept getting thicker and thicker, then it just abruptly cleared up, IIRC, somewhere around O'Brien. That was the "Cave fire" or something like that - the day after it started. We stayed in Grants Pass the night before, and the hotel was getting overrun with people who had evacuated..

It's certainly a nice area, near the coast. Probably a great place to retire. Wish there were some tech jobs in places like that, so we wouldn't all have to pack in like rats here in the Bay.. Then again, you're probably glad there aren't

Pelican Bay State Prison in Fort Dick is the big employer here. After that, it's the county and school district. A lot of people can't tolerate the rain and generally colder weather (think Oregon) after living south, but the rest compensates nicely (no lines, no traffic, cheap housing, etc). Ten to fifteen miles up the Smith River, everything gets warmer and sunnier and less windy. A lot of people do retire here and in Brookings, OR because of the scenery and housing bargains. If you are ever passing through again, I'd be glad to save you a night in a motel on your trip.

 

[norinse]

Has Kia ever produced an all-electric car? I would never imagine they'd start with the Stinger model unless it was a performance-based GT model to compete with the Teslas. Then they still have to buy the components from Tesla or Honda.

We have the Kia Niro EV in Canada and now the Kia Soul EV too. Parent company Hyundai makes the Ioniq EV and the Kona EV. Along with a shit-ton of hybrids.

 

[RVance]

I hope this helps keep the Stinger alive: Kia Telluride Rakes In Profit as Customers Are Buying Them Loaded

 

[YEH]

Ehhh, they should go hybrid. However, I've dug around enough, this chassis definitely wasn't designed with that possibility in mind.

In reality, it would have been too expensive, but if the Panamera was treated as a competitive product then the Stinger GT really should have released as a performance hybrid. That would have not only turned heads, but also helped them maintain "current" generation fad of electric drive options.

Aside from the base T4 engine upgrade (needed ASAP) to the 2.5T, a hybrid variant is also necessary for markets like Europe and Asia where gas prices are high and diesels are falling out of favor.

Speaking of the Panamera, a 3.3TT Stinger ends up costing as much as a Panamera when factoring in CO2 taxes (for the countries w/ particularly high CO2 tax rates).

Of course sales are slow. They're not marketing/advertising the Stinger worth a damn, and the pricing strategy is wrong.

The pricing is fine, it's the lower end models w/ the base 2.0T engine which doesn't sell.

So will the G70 be discontinued also since its sales are nowhere near 1500 per month in the US??

Hyundai has deeper pockets and the G70 benefits from domestic sales where it outsells the Stinger by a 4-5 to 1 ratio.

Maybe I am the only one but I would love to see a stinger coupe, maybe not have it be electric but have it be a bit more sporty and have Kia listen to the gripes and suggestions and put that into a 2 door stinger. Just my two cents.

Kia did a 2-door concept (actually got the Stinger moniker from the GT4 concept), but wisely discerned that a 2-door would sell even less than a 4-door fastback.

Has Kia ever produced an all-electric car? I would never imagine they'd start with the Stinger model unless it was a performance-based GT model to compete with the Teslas. Then they still have to buy the components from Tesla or Honda.

Kia e-Niro and the Soul EV w/ more on the way.

H/K/G is ahead of Honda and Toyota when it comes to BEVs.

The e-Niro is considered the best mass market BEV in Europe.

Plus HMG owns a stake in Rimac - which will work w/ H/K/G to develop performance BEVs.

Going electric (or at least full electric) isn't the immediate answer if want greater sales globally.

It's surprising to me that Gregory Guillaume says sales were expected to be higher on the Stinger. It hasn't been far off in numbers from its competitors like the A5/S5 and BMW 4 series.

Here, Stinger sales are in line w/ the 4 Series GC and the A5 Sportback.

Where GG and Kia likely expected greater sales is from the T4 models.

I think Kia's next flagship should be an SUV that starts at $35k and goes up to $55k, with a 3.5TT performance model topping out the line. Seeing what Porsche has done with the Macan and Lambo with the Urus, SUV's can be made to handle quite well with recent advancements. An SUV like that would not only impress the car journalists which give Kia a lot of press, but would sell in greater numbers than Kia's other flagships.

Kia has been contemplating doing a lux CUV or 2 based on the upcoming GV80 or GV70.

Europeans still clearly stuck on the "badge" thing. lol

Give them time, they'll come around.

Not the Germans - the Stinger vastly outsells the entire Lexus and Infiniti RWD lineups.

 

[19GT-AWD]

No, they won’t. Been there many times and work for a German company.

Sure, they will. There had never been anything like the Stinger before for them to come around to.

Not the Germans - the Stinger vastly outsells the entire Lexus and Infiniti RWD lineups.

COOL.

 

[Peeso33]

Ummm, is this good or bad for the Stinger? https://thekoreancarblog.com/2019/09/23/next-gen-kia-optima-spied-with-stinger-mirrors/
Next-gen Kia Optima Spied with Stinger Mirrors