Kia Optima may be axed in Oz

The Kia Optima has been on sale in Australia since early 2011, but it might not survive beyond this year.

Kia executives have confirmed motoring.com.au's hunch that the vehicle's future is in the balance, after sales of the medium-size Mazda6 and Toyota Camry rival slumped almost 50 per cent last year, from 1358 units to 727.

The new rear-wheel drive Kia Stinger sedan is selling out fast in Australia and creating a groundswell of interest for the brand which will put more pressure on the slightly smaller and much older front-drive Optima.

But there are other factors that could hang the Optima out to dry in Australia.

The just-revealed Kia Cerato sedan has grown considerably in size has also forced a rethink of whether the Optima is viable for the Australian market.

"There's two issues we've got to look at," said Damien Meredith, Kia Australia's chief operating officer.

"One is that we did have a strategy in place for Optima; how we're going to handle it, put it back into the market and make it more competitive. I think that we will have to review that with what we saw in Detroit, with the new Cerato sedan. It's a big car.

"I think the top end of the Cerato sedan will put pressure on the Optima, so we've got to rethink that."

Priced between $34,490 and $44,490, the Kia Optima falls into the medium car segment, which has dropped by around 20 per cent year on year. Every single model in the mid-size car segment recorded negative growth in 2017; the least affected was the Skoda Octavia, down 4.6 per cent.

"Personally I don’t want to cut it loose at all, but we've got to make sure it [Optima] fits in between the new Cerato sedan, which is a bigger car, and obviously the Stinger."

Meredith stated that there is plenty of "above the line activity" the company can work on to improve the Optima's appeal, such as improved finance deals.

Apart from the unloved Rondo people-mover, the Kia Optima was the only car in Kia's portfolio whose sales went backwards in 2017.

"We've got a bit of homework to do on it [Optima]. It's not as easy as just re-pricing and the car and de-speccing it and things like that. We've got to work smarter than that."