Kia Stinger GT to target Commodore heartland

Kia's first rear-wheel drive sedan will be released in Australia on September 1 with a full range of at least four variants, including an entry model close to $40,000 and a twin-turbo V6 sports flagship potentially priced from under $50,000.

That will see the Stinger compete directly with Holden's Commodore SV6 (from $40,490) and Commodore SS (from $47,490), both of which will be out production the following month when Holden ceases manufacturing on October 20.

The latter is a fact Kia Australia will be keen to promote once the Stinger arrives, headlined by the range-topping 272kW/510Nm 3.3-litre GT, which is claimed to hit 100km/h in just 4.9 seconds, making it the Korean car-maker's quickest model ever.

"For the last 20 or 30 years Holden has been telling us it's not rear-wheel drive it's not a proper car," said Kia Australia media and corporate communications general manager Kevin Hepworth.

"Well we've got one – have you?"

Hepworth said both Stinger powertrains would be available with multiple equipment levels – meaning there will be at least four model variants – and that the base 2.0-litre turbo-petrol version would be priced close to but not under $40,000.

Similarly, he said the cheapest V6-powered Stinger GT could undercut $50,000, making it more affordable than expected, while a premium version would come with all of Kia's latest comfort, convenience and safety technologies.

Kia Australia chief operating officer Damien Meredith told motoring.com.au said the Stinger could attract up to 6000 Australians a year "if we price it right", with the GT initially expected to account for 70 per cent of sales initially, falling to 50 per cent over the model cycle.

That's not a big number compared to the 25,000-plus customers the Commodore still attracted last year, but would see the Stinger become far more popular than Toyota's Aurion and Australia's third homegrown large sedan, Ford's now defunct Falcon.

It would also provide another incremental shot in the arm for Kia Australia, which ranked fifth overall for passenger car sales last month, ninth overall in the first quarter and could top 50,000 sales for the first time in 2017.

Meredith said Kia was on track to sell between 48,000 and 50,000 vehicles this year – well ahead of target and well up on the 42,668 sales it recorded in 2016 (up 26.5 per cent on 2015).