Four years ago, Kia revealed the Stinger and shocked the car community. Once known for building budget-box cars with dodgy quality and awkward styling, the automaker rolled out a legitimate sports sedan with vivid details and searing performance. It was a total departure from the norm for the brand, and people took notice. The Stinger generated a tidal wave of interest, but the tides turned soon after. We've heard that Kia will kill the car in the US market, but company executives in Australia are pitching a more optimistic outlook.

Kia has never sold more than 17,000 units in the United States, and in Australia, the automaker's sales never surpassed 2,000 units per year. Kia Australia COO Damien Meredith told CarExpert that things seem to be going well.

"We haven't heard anything official from Korea on whether or not we're going to a new model for Stinger or not, so we're just happy at the moment that we're getting fantastic supply for the car, and it's doing exceptionally well in market." Despite the uncertainty, Kia has several compelling reasons to continue selling the car in Australia. Police love the Stinger, which has replaced the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon in some government fleets throughout the country.

The automaker also has months of backorders to work through, and the range-topping GT trim accounts for more than 90% of sales. Whether all of that is enough to save the car has yet to be seen, but if the Stinger does get the ax, it will leave Australians with very few rear-wheel drive performance sedans to choose from.

Sadly, it looks like Kia plans to cut the cord on the Stinger here in the States after selling just 13,517 units last year. The car sports surprisingly strong performance, but buyers didn't warm to the car as much as Kia hoped. That said, the Stinger opened peoples' eyes to the fact that Kia is no longer a purveyor of questionably assembled automobiles, and it demonstrated that the automaker could turn out premium level vehicles that can compete with some of the best contenders from Europe.

The Stinger's troubles aren't unique in the South Korean automaker's lineup. Kia and its corporate partner Hyundai are reportedly considering axing other cars in their catalogs. The Hyundai Sonata is expected to get the boot in 2027 or 2028, and the Kia K5 will likely depart around the same time.