What do the Pontiac G8, Chevrolet SS and Kia Stinger have in widespread? They all had been deliciously potent and in the vicinity of-universally-lauded rear-wheel-travel sedans that didn’t promote as nicely as hoped and had been dogged by death knells quickly right after hitting the marketplace. Contrary to the GM sedans, the Stinger’s nonetheless incredibly a lot with us, but most likely not for a lot for a longer period. In accordance to the Korean Automobile Blog site, “community sector sources” allege Kia gave its South Korean crops their 2022 output schedules. The document apparently indicated the Sohari facility where all Stingers are created will be retooled to assemble electrified autos like the Kia Carnival Hybrid at the commencing of Q2, and by the conclusion of Q2, the Stinger will retire to the grave to make way.
We are putting this rumor in this article as a placeholder mainly because, like that fictional boy raising alarms about some even additional fictional wolves, we’ve listened to it all ahead of. Still that fabled youngster discovered that wolves do display up unexpectedly, and it’s attainable that this time the Stinger is as performed for as people fabled sheep. The rationale for these a choice has not altered because the initially forewarnings three many years back: product sales are nicely down below where Kia hoped, and they are not acquiring closer to target. By the conclusion of June 2021 the sedan’s U.S. product sales are up just 147 units when compared to 2020, and down 323 units when compared to 2019. In contrast to the product sales of the German sedans the Stinger experienced hoped to obstacle, the Stinger’s six,498 units so significantly this year are about 53% of Audi A4 product sales and 27% of BMW three Series product sales.
The 6- or seven-year output cycle for Kia merchandise means we would have predicted a next-gen Stinger around 2024. The refreshed 2022 Stinger only arrived in the U.S. in March of this year, bringing a new 2.five-liter four-cylinder, a fractionally additional impressive 6-cylinder, some new tech, style tweaks and a Scorpion specific edition. It’s capable of holding out three additional many years if Kia chooses to maintain it around. Or it’s attainable Kia needs to commit its vitality to the long term, where autos like the Kia EV6 electrical crossover will very likely be additional well-known and financially rewarding than the Stinger.
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