Kia Stinger order books close for good

The inevitable day we all dreaded has arrived – order books for the Kia Stinger have closed for good.

Sources at Kia Australia and its dealer network have told carsales that the remaining months of production for the popular turbocharged rear-wheel drive sports sedan will be used solely to fill the backlog of existing orders.

But dealers tell us a few new Stingers are still available thanks to a mixture of residual stock and failed or cancelled orders. There are 43 ‘new’ Kia Stinger vehicles currently listed for sale on carsales, as well as 301 used, demo and near-new examples, totalling 344 listings.

Once those supplies are exhausted, the Stinger production line in Korea will be repurposed to assist in the production of other key Kia models, relegating the big performance sedan to the pages of history alongside the Holden Commodore SS and Ford Falcon XR6/XR8.

Given it debuted six years ago in 2017 – the same year the homegrown Commodore was axed – it was no secret that Stinger production would cease soon and rumours of its demise have circulated the industry for a couple of years now.

But the official confirmation came in December 2022, when Kia revealed the limited-run Stinger Tribute Edition – a model Kia Australia turned down so it could focus on filling its existing orders.

Things then got emotional last month when Kia released a send-off video depicting the Stinger handing over the GT performance baton to the new Kia EV6, along with the promise that the brand’s flourishing performance legacy would carry on.

Kia has since confirmed it’s working on a high-performance GT version of the inbound Kia EV9 large SUV to join the smaller EV6 GT, but it’s fair to say the high-output electric SUVs almost certainly won’t have the same sex appeal as a traditional sports sedan or fastback with turbocharged four-cylinder and V6 petrol engines.

The Stinger arrived in Australia in 2017 and briefly overlapped with the final VF SS before carrying on the rear-drive sports sedan legacy alone, sharing the sub-$70,000 large sedan club exclusively with the front- and all-wheel-drive Skoda Superb.

More than 90 per cent of all local Stinger sales have been for the flagship GT, which was armed with adaptive dampers, heated and ventilated front seats, a 15-speaker premium sound system, head-up display, adjustable seat bolsters, a limited-slip rear differential and, crucially, a 274kW/510Nm twin-turbo 3.3-litre V6.

The same mill was available in the more affordable but lesser-equipped Stinger 330S, and a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four was also available in 220S and GT-Line guises.

Join the conversation at 

our Facebook page

Or email us at 

editor@carsales.com.au