Australian police eyeing off Stinger pursuit vehicle
Kia’s new sports sedan piques the interest of various police departmentsGetting ‘stung’ by a highway patrol car could soon carry new meaning in Australia.
Kia says its new Stinger performance sedan launched this week has already courted interest from every major police department around the country.
The Korean manufacturer is confident motorists will soon see the pioneering four-door on police fleets – both for general duties and highway patrol.
“The interest from different police departments around Australia isn’t rumoured, there’s been quite a bit of interest shown from all police departments: Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland,” Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith confirmed.
With Holden shuttering its manufacturing operations in Australia in less than a month, following Ford’s lead, police departments have been forced to look at alternatives for their fleets, particularly highway patrol.
Victorian Police this week announced it had negotiated a fleet of 80 new BMW 530d to its fleet, and it’s believed other police forces are looking down the same path.
Kia says it has already begun the process of ensuring the Stinger is fit for duty, consulting with supplier Lumen on ensuring the vehicle has adequate on-board power.
Kia execs said this week that Lumen, which was responsible for developing a bi-modal exhaust for the Stinger, has manufactured a new wiring loom to comply with the police force lights and sirens.
The bigger issue could be a car shortage. Kia has tempered initial sales expectations of the Stinger, admitting they are limited to about 200 vehicles a month because of global constraints.
However, Meredith is confident Kia will soon be able to supply the market with 500 vehicles a month.
“Will it affect [police orders]? Probably not. The police are in different cycles and I don’t think any police department will come to us tomorrow and ask for 100 cars in 2018.
“But moving forward it will probably be a growth area for us,” he said.
“The interest has been in both models. Some states want the car for general duties and other states want a mix of general duties and highway patrol.”
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