Internal combustion Kia GT cars are dead

Kia Australia has largely ruled out the prospect of another internal combustion (ICE) GT performance car – ala Stinger and Cerato GT – as global CO2 emission regulations tighten their chokehold on traditional performance vehicles.

Speaking to carsales last week at the national 2025 Kia Sportage media launch, the Korean brand’s local product chief Roland Rivero said the decision to move away from ICE was part of a wider Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) strategy in response to emerging consumer and government demands.

“Even the N tagline is being more and more applied to electrified product, and for a bunch of reasons,” he said.

“You’ve got to satisfy the global situation and CO2 regulations are tightening all around the world, and ours is going to catch-up very, very quickly too, so I can understand why R&D centres are still trying to dial up driving enjoyment responsibly.

“There’s no reason why an electrified product can’t give you a similar experience [to internal combustion performance cars], albeit with some computer tech and what not.

“Hot hatches are harder to justify as a business case, ongoing, when you combine all the elements of CO2 regulations and the global movement [toward electrification].”

Rubbing salt in the hot hatch wound in particular is the ever-increasing consumer preference of SUVs over traditional passenger cars, hence the anticipated 2026 debut and release of the Kia EV3 GT compact SUV.

The low-set and compact nature of EV powertrains and drivelines means electric SUVs often have the same, if not better, handling characteristics than traditional/internal combustion passenger cars.

This allows manufacturers to blend the undeniable versatility and practicality of SUVs with the crispy response of a coupe, sports sedan or hot hatch into one do-it-all package, i.e. the EV6 GT succeeding the beloved Stinger GT.

As for the wizardry of having an EV simulate the characteristics – engine noise, power bands, gear shifts, revs and rev limiters etc – of an ICE powertrain, Kia Australia will soon be offering exactly that on the updated 2025 Kia EV6 GT due in local showrooms in the fourth quarter of the year.

It’s unclear if the EV3 GT will nab any of its bigger sibling’s Hyundai IONIQ 5 N-sourced goodies, though we wouldn’t be surprised if it did, seeing as it will be the closest thing yet to an electric hot hatch produced by HMG.

Rivero didn’t allude to what role hybrids or range-extender EVs would play in the future of Kia’s GT portfolio, but with rumours of Hyundai preparing hybrid N cars persisting, it would make sense for the former to get in on the act and put a lightly more road-focused spin on the go-faster technology.

The next GT product due to arrive Down Under is the enormous EV9 GT that’s primed to become the most expensive Kia product to date at more than $130,000 when it launches in the second half of the year.