There's Potentially A Big Problem In Europe For The Stunning Kia Stinger

All eyes were on the Kia stand at the Detroit motor show this week, for a while at least, where the Stinger GT was finally unveiled.

To say it’s a departure from Kia’s normal wares is an understatement. It’s about as close in spirit to the Picanto and Cee’d as a Eurofighter is to a Cessna. That makes it a risk, especially for a brand whose only prior experience of building a performance car is a 201bhp platform used by three and five-door warm hatchbacks.

This lack of provenance is more of a problem than true petrolhead morality says it should be. After all, we want to love any car that deserves it, not just those that have the right badges. If and when we get a go in the 360bhp Stinger we’ll let you know what we think. But there are facets of the car’s reality that count against it, increasing the risk of launching it at all.

For one thing it’s built on the same platform as the Hyundai Genesis, which isn’t exactly a sporting beast. The suspension and rear axle have been completely revised and/or redesigned, says Kia, and the exhaust for the 3.3-litre turbocharged V6 is bespoke to this car. Early reports from pre-production cars say the noise it makes is a bit dull, though, and apparently the chassis is – or was at the time – a bit roly-poly.

Then there’s the fact that the Stinger is being launched at a very crowded price point. Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Jaguar all have forced-induction rivals for around the £43,000 the Kia will cost, and history tells us that when there’s a choice between a stunning and different option and one (or many) with the right badge for the same price, people are shallow and go for the badge.

The only guess we can make, between the early driving feedback and Kia’s own assertion that this isn’t an outright sports car as much as it’s a (more) luxurious (than its other cars) long-distance grand tourer, is that the fear of taking too big a risk has lead to the company running the biggest risk of all: being ignored.

Take the Toyota Corolla T-Sport as an example. It had a screaming engine that rivalled the one in the Civic Type R of the day, was more comfortable and at least as well built. But it was overlooked because it offered less of what the market ultimately wanted. Fast, high-power saloon versions of mainstream cars like the Mondeo and Laguna (remember that?) ultimately failed. The Vauxhall Cascada flopped because it’s not a premium product. The Stinger will offer comfort and a strong engine, but it needs more than that to win this fight.

When we look at sports cars that have attempted to disrupt the market, only two things have ever worked: exceptional price and/or performance. Take the Jaguar E-Type, which was faster than Ferraris and cost vastly less to buy. The fact that it looked a million dollars was a bonus. Genius: a legend was born.

When The Nissan GT-R was launched, it offered space-time-bending speed and traction for not much more than half the price of a 911 Turbo, so the fact that it was a Nissan didn’t matter. It was an instant cult hit, albeit one with the benefit of three Skyline-badged predecessors to add the all-important sense of heritage.

Launching a grand tourer into a marketplace already dominated by proven (and celebrated) Germans, with comparable power and price, is going to be tricky. With the best will in the world, on this continent the odds are stacked against the Kia.

But with the USA as the car’s real target, perhaps its main function in Europe will be as a figurehead; a halo product that makes the brand look even more appealing to people searching for a stylish daily driver. The UK sales figures will eventually give us a guide, but don’t expect to see too many.