Kia's excellent GT car will end production after 1000 units of this, the Tribute Edition, are built.
The Kia Stinger is wonderful. A rear- (or all-wheel) drive GT with excellent chassis tuning, great looks, and a nice interior. It was one of the first products Hyundai/Kia built after hiring a cadre of folks away from BMW, and it shows. A fantastic thing.
Unfortunately, no matter how fantastic the GT is, our changing automotive landscape with its shift to crossovers and away from stylish sedans, along with the imminent shift to an EV future means that the Stinger’s short time with us is coming to an end. Kia will build a final trim, dubbed the Tribute Edition, before the Stinger goes out of production.
Just 1000 will be made for markets worldwide. All Tribute Edition cars will come in matte grey with black Brembo brake calipers and black wheels. The interior will be terracotta leather with a carbon effect dash, and each car will be numbered so you know you got a rarer Stinger than other people. Pricing hasn’t been announced, but it’ll surely cost more than the regular Stinger.
A shame to see it go, really. It was a most unexpected car, a rear-drive liftback with actual performance chops from an automaker known mostly for cheap compact cars and long warranties. It filled a hole, but it seems it wasn’t bought by enough people to justify its continued existence. Kia says that the spirit of the Stinger will live on in other cars it builds with a GT badge. Too bad the Stinger couldn’t just live a few years longer on its own.
