Kia has reportedly not abandoned the idea of a sporty sedan and is working on a possible electric successor to the Stinger, the model that helped redefine the Korean brand’s image between 2017 and 2023 despite never reaching particularly high sales volumes, with around 138,000 units delivered over seven years.
The first signs of this direction emerged with the Vision Meta Turismo concept, unveiled to mark the brand’s 80th anniversary and created to preview the evolution of Kia’s Opposites United design philosophy.
Kia explores electric Stinger successor and station wagon variant
According to Kia design chief Karim Habib, the final decision will depend on finding a sustainable balance between development costs, list price and the positioning of a sports model within a mainstream lineup. However, the intention appears to be not to limit the future range to SUVs alone, a goal shared by product teams in both Seoul and Kia’s European design center in Frankfurt.
The most interesting possibility concerns a station wagon variant alongside the sedan. That choice would allow Kia to offer a model capable of combining emotional appeal with everyday versatility, while standing apart from most electric cars currently available on the market.
As for the driving experience, Jochen Paesen distanced himself from the approach Hyundai has taken on some battery-powered performance models. He suggested that simulated engine sounds or artificial gear shifts would not necessarily match the expectations of younger customers.
According to Paesen, Kia’s head of interior design, the cabin will become the distinctive element of the future electric sports car, with an onboard experience rethought compared with the traditional rules of sports sedans. The production model will inevitably be less extreme than the concept, but it could still mark a significant change in approach for the brand.
