Stinger 01
Ken Gratton22 Nov 2017
NEWS

Two-month wait for Kia Stinger

Demand, coupled with supply constraint is holding up deliveries of notable new performance sedan

Demand, coupled with supply constraint is holding up deliveries of notable new performance sedan

Kia Australia's Chief Operating Officer, Damien Meredith, has told motoring.com.au that the queue to take delivery of a new Stinger is up to 60 days long.

And that's ahead of the car's American launch, and the official commencement of local marketing activities, including a TV commercial campaign kicking off from January, along with digital and outdoor advertising.

"Until we start our full-blown communication with Stinger, which will be first of January, it really is production-driven," Meredith told motoring.com.au yesterday. "What we're given is what we're selling."

On that front, the company has ordered the vast majority of its Stinger allocation in V6 GT because that's what the buyers have pre-ordered, says Meredith.

"It's very difficult after six weeks to gauge exactly what's selling... it's more what's landed is selling. But saying that, we did go to the dealers three months ago: 'Orders you're holding? Order that car'.

"They were all GTs."

The breakdown of sales to date makes for interesting reading, as Meredith explained.

"It's 90 per cent the six and... 10 per cent four, and of that 90 per cent, 80 per cent is top-of-the-range. So it's been very high [spec models ordered].

"I think that the [four-cylinder Stinger] Si will, in time, probably be the best seller."

Orders are coming from places known for their attachment to rear-drive/high-performance cars, the Kia exec revealed. Sales numbers for the Stinger are proportionally higher in Sydney's west, plus the Adelaide Hills and both the western suburbs and north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

"It's sort of historic [Commodore] SS territory, but it's not that well spread.

Meredith says that the highest sector of Stinger buyers are already Kia customers, trading in the brand's models like the Sportage.

"The trades are the interesting thing for us: a lot of our own product – Sportage seems to be strong – a fair amount of 'Euro'… a bit all over the place."

The proportion of Stinger buyers conquested from Holden is about 20 per cent, but interestingly, very few Stinger buyers are trading in Fords.

"I think they've already bought Rangers," Meredith suggested with tongue in cheek. But it's probably the Mustang factor at play in Ford's case.

Sales were just over 200 units last month, which is a far cry from the 1900-plus numbers Holden has been doing with the locally-manufactured Commodore in its final year. Kia's experience with Stinger so far doesn't bode well for the fully-imported, front-wheel drive ZB Commodore. Meredith says that the sales numbers for Stinger were expected.

"We always thought [Stinger sales] would be about 200 a month in the initial stages. That's what it looks like for this month [November] and what it will be for December."

On the subject of December, Kia anticipates bringing to market its three-mode exhaust option before Christmas. It will be offered for retrospective fitment at a price of $2659.99. The system was developed by local company Lumen in a deal exclusively for Kia Motors Australia, and is being manufactured in Melbourne. Kia is very clear on the subject too; the system will not be available to buyers of the (Hyundai) Genesis G70. To date, dealers have ordered 140 systems for customer cars.

Share this article
Written byKen Gratton
See all articles
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Stay up to dateBecome a carsales member and get the latest news, reviews and advice straight to your inbox.
Download the carsales app
    AppStoreDownloadGooglePlayDownload
    App Store and the Apple logo are trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
    © CAR Group Ltd 1999-2024
    In the spirit of reconciliation we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.