The Kia Stinger heralded the South Korean brand’s aspirations to become a mainstream player in the Australian market. It was a powerful, rear-wheel drive sports sedan that seemingly arrived at the perfect time to replace the departing Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in the hearts and minds of Australian car enthusiasts.
There was one problem – Australian car enthusiasts didn’t want a replacement for the Commodore and Falcon. In fact, they didn’t want the Commodore and Falcon anymore, at least not in the same numbers they wanted them previously, hence the demise of the locally made sedans.
What people want are exciting and performance-biased SUVs and electric cars – and preferably both.
Enter the Kia EV6 GT, the fastest, most powerful and most expensive car the brand has ever offered in Australia. The statistics are eye-opening, with 430kW of power, 740Nm of torque from its dual electric motors allowing for a 0-100km/h time of just 3.5 seconds and costing customers $99,590 (plus on-road costs).
The Stinger, it seems in hindsight, was the right car at the wrong time but the EV6 GT is clearly the right car at precisely the right moment for the brand.
It’s a view backed up by Kia Australia chief operating officer, Damien Meredith, albeit with a caveat.
“I think your outcome is fair,” Mr Meredith told CarsGuide when we proposed this idea. “I’m not sure I agree about Stinger, I think Stinger did a fantastic job for us… It’s really, really important for us in regards to what you said. It’s incredibly important as a lighthouse-type vehicle. What’s more important than a lighthouse? A satellite? A thousand drones? Whatever it is, it’s important to us.”
Mr Meredith knows there are limitations on the EV6 GT, specifically supply. The local operation has only managed to secure approximately 2500 EV6 examples for 2023, with the make-up of which variants they will be – GT-Line or GT – to be decided by the dealers.
Which, somewhat ironically, is approximately what the Stinger is on course to do, sales-wise, in 2022 with only 2161 sales recorded up to the end of November. But total sales volume has never been what the Stinger was about or what the EV6 GT is for the brand.
While the EV6 GT will only be a small seller for the brand, Mr Meredith and Kia Australia’s marketing chief, Dean Norbiato, are quick to underscore the important role it will play in building up the image of the rapidly-improving brand.
“It’s about continuing in the legacy of Stinger,” Mr Norbiato explained. “Stinger for us was the most important vehicle at the time and then EV6 – the nameplate – has extended and continued that. I guess it had pretty impressive performance in the GT-Line, but 80 per cent more power with 430kW [and] 740Nm is a proper performance vehicle and it will sit atop our product portfolio and definitely halo our entire range.
“What that does is two things. It brings people into the brand and it cross-sells products, people who see this will then go into dealerships, because you can buy it in a dealership, and they’ll see a Cerato GT, they’ll see a Picanto. We prefer to keep the spotlight on the Kia brand.
“Secondly, you can’t underestimate the pride of purchase it gives other Kia owners. To know that it also wears the same badge as my Sportage, as my Carnival SLi, it gives them pride of purchase to keep shopping within the range. And maybe one day they’ll buy the GT when it suits their circumstances.
“So it plays so many roles for us, a car like this, and the way was paved by Stinger.”
Keyword: Kia EV6 GT detailed: New sports car-rivaling EV arrives to claim the crown from Stinger as South Korean brand's new poster child