There aren’t many performance sedans left to serve the market, save for the staple Germany luxury vehicles. The Dodge Charger and Chevrolet SS have carried the torch for American automakers for some time, but as we’re all aware, the SS will exit production later this year, and a revised Charger is still years away.
Then comes Kia swinging for the fences with the 2018 Stinger, a rear-wheel drive performance sedan with an available 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 engine. At a time when we’re readying our goodbye to the 2017 Chevrolet SS, how is it that Kia can introduce such a car?
Even as the market turns to crossovers and utility vehicles, Kia sees a market for a performance sedan. And as the Chevrolet SS sits on its deathbed, we can’t help but wonder if potential Chevrolet SS buyers may find solace in the 2018 Kia Stinger.
It looks great, seems to have the performance credentials for the segment and will likely undercut any comparative vehicle in its class. And the price is likely a major factor here.
The Chevrolet SS has long been out of reach for many due to GM’s decision to not de-content the vehicle in the slightest, while the Stinger will likely take a Pontiac G8 strategy and provide accessible price levels with the base turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It’s a tried and true formula: shake up a segment long defined by a select few.
But, it may an even more timely move for Australian friends. As the 2018 Holden Commodore moves to front-wheel drive, the 2018 Stinger may be just what the market calls for when it comes to a proper rear-wheel drive performance sedan, even if there won’t be a V8 under the hood.
We simply want to use this space as a call to action, whatever weight it pulls. There’s a market for these vehicles, and Kia may be jumping aboard the niche at just the right time.
Comments
An interesting vehicle that will surely fill a void. The cars design looks like somewhat of a mixed bag though. Front end reminds me of the BMW 6 Series, the profile is a lot like the Jaguar XF, and the tail lights look like a Maserati. Let’s hope it sees success and maybe GM will follow
It will struggle as the kind of self image this car presents on the owner is not the same as the German Sedans. Vanity plays much into the marketing of the Germans. You may build a better car but you still can say you own a Benz or Bemmer.
This is what Cadillac is fighting right now as they have some really good cars but so little self image for the owners that it keeps many away.
The Kia may be a good car and will find a small segment of buyers but it will not replace any of the tried and true leaders in the segment anytime soon.
Add to all this how more difficult sedan sales are it just makes this an even tougher segment to enter let alone dominate.
No Kia could fill a void left by A Chevy. Kia is just a Hunk of metal and plastic. Humans, dogs, and Chevys have a soul.
You had me up until you said ‘souls’.
Stupid comment.
Think objectively, please.
Dogs don’t have souls. They just have consciousness, 2 different things.
Obnoxious and presumptuous to think that we’re the only members of the animal kingdom to be gifted souls.
Humans may have large brains and therefore more capabilities yet either from a logical standpoint either all or none of we animals have souls.
Chevrolet has become just another global automaker. Sonic, Malibu and Cruze have no more or less “soul” than Kia, Dodge, or VW.
Kia often reminds me of Pontiac styling. It is the most American looking import.
i ll drive a 20 yr old cavalier over a new kia all day long
I of course want them to bring back the cavalier with modern accents and more performance. I have an old sunfire, and it is still hip if not quick. I wish they offered the sunfire in a V6 or turbo. A cavalier with the 2.0 turbo and modern cruz like styling would be an incredible car!
I thought this and the similar sized Genesis brand vehicle will compete with the 3 and 4 series?
I’m fascinated to see the pricing on this car.
Of course I love GM but we should be happy that someone wants to bring a car like this to America. If you ever want GM to have something like this again, it would be helpful to have a car like this selling well. There’s a reason Ford is bringing back the Ranger and Bronco – they saw how well the Colorado and Wrangler are selling.
Very striking sedan! There’s certainly a ton of potential with the Stinger, granted an attractive price and strong appeal. Neither of which are out of Kia’s grasp, but as others are pointing out, the badge may not be enough to draw buyers of this kind of vehicle. As much as I love what Hyundai Group has been putting out lately, there are many who are still not associating them with high value. Although this is changing with each new product.
It’s such a shame in general that the best sedans ever developed are being upstaged and phased out by the sudden onslaught of CUV’s and SUV’s!
No plans for a manual. No thanks.
Doubt it’ll do much to combat the German cars in the segment either – usually those buyers are very brand loyal, a big reason why Cadillac sales still have not taken off, despite having some seriously competitive offerings.
The Impala with the LT4 V8 and RWD ( AWD as an option) based on the Alpha platform. The Malibu with the 3.6 turbo V6 of the ATS/V and AWD. The Cruze with the 2.0 four banger with 300hp and AWD. The Sonic with the 1.6 220hp+ and AWD. The Spark with the 1.5 170+ hp and AWD. those options could bring more muscles and power to Chevy image, and of course GM have to propose them globally.
No thank you.
I am with Mohchey !!!!
To give more sports and muscles to Chevy’s image, GM can give birth to the code 130R as the rebirth of the Nomad, and the TRU.140S as the Nova (supposition). Those two cars could use the D2XX platform and a variety of engines, the 1.6 T, 2.0T and 3.0T of the CT6 with the AWD
If SS sales are any indication, that’s a very miniscule void to fill. But anyone who lusts for a Stinger wouldn’t have so much as entertained the idea of driving an SS. I strongly suspect SS people aren’t Kia Stinger people either. It’s an identity thing – an ideological thing – not a “segment” thing. Ironically, that almost guarantees the Stinger will be a hit compared with the SS even if it fails to lure too many American appliance fans away from their beloved SUVs.
This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a very limited but real market for a RWD V6 and V8 powered family performance sedan from GM, but as rationalists such as scott3 love to pound home, what “business case” would they have to build a car that very few Americans would ever consider buying just for the sake of carrying on tradition? On the other hand, that hasn’t stopped Kia. A Kia Stinger might be an attractive and impressive car, but I will never buy a Stinger because even though on a bar graph, a Stinger might be comparable to an SS, they’re otherwise worlds apart.
Commendable that Kia gave it a real name, though – a memorable one with character – while American companies continue going out of their way to adopt soulless globalist alphabet soup car names as if to beg acceptance from the rest of the self constrained world. So much for American exceptionalism.
In the spirit of the times I have a suggestion – Make GM Great Again. That Kia introduces a spiritual successor to the Buick Grand National just as GM bows out of the musclecar business is sobering proof there’s more work to be done before GM and greatness are again synonymous.
Agreed. People that buy Chevys wouldn’t even look at a Kia. I know I wouldn’t, because I’m a 100% GM guy, always have been.
Personally, I think the Kia Stinger is ugly and there’s no way that it could fill the void of a Chevy SS.
Chevrolet should build a RWD Impala based on long Alpha, and sell it globally even in Europe