The Kia Stinger Started As The Brand's First Rear-Wheel-Drive Concept In 2011

The Kia Stinger took home a Red Dot: Best of the Best award for product design when it premiered for the 2018 model year, earning the honor along with exotic machines like the McLaren 720S and Ferrari Portofino. Here in the United States, Kia was recognized for Production Car Design Excellence as part of the annual EyesOn Design awards. And the Stinger's style still resonates today, when more folks are realizing it's a damn shame they canceled the car after the 2023 model year.

But the starting point for the Stinger actually goes all the way back to the Kia GT concept car that debuted at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. The result was a masterpiece of design with an appearance that would help establish the brand's current reputation for striking exteriors. You can credit Peter Schreyer for that. The designer of the original Audi TT — among others — had been hired away from the four-rings brand to help Kia establish a new direction for itself.

As for the GT, it was also Kia's first-ever concept to feature rear-wheel drive — providing a clue about Kia's new approach to performance. Of course, it further helped that Kia envisioned a 3.3-liter turbocharged V6 for beneath the GT's muscular sheet metal, complete with 395 horses and 393.5 pound-feet of torque. Something else to keep in mind is that while the Stinger is indeed a direct descendant of the GT, it borrowed its name from a separate Kia concept: the Stinger GT4 sports car. 

The short story here is that the Kia Stinger was just too good. After all, the Stinger offered similar performance and style to rivals like the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, but combined with one massive advantage — it was more than $10,000 less expensive than either of the Germans. To be exact — and remembering that the 2018 Stinger opened at $31,900 — it was $13,075 less than the Audi and $15,195 cheaper than the BMW. Also, to be clear, these are all technically four-door liftbacks, which was a popular premium body style for a minute. Kia, in fact, specifically benchmarked the A5 Sportback when it created the Stinger.

That seems to have inspired MotorTrend to do the same after spending a year with a Stinger GT. The results? The A5 did have an undeniably more premium vibe, especially in the cabin. But the Stinger was the driver's choice, thanks in large part to its rear-wheel-drive setup. 

At the higher end of the performance spectrum, and looking at automaker numbers, the twin-turbo Stinger GT wasn't quite as quick as the S5. The former flew to 60 in 4.7 seconds versus 4.5 for the S5. In terms of maximum speed, however, the Stinger GT topped out a manufacturer-governed 167 mph. Audi limited the S5 to 155 mph. Note that Kia never got around to building a Stinger to go up against Audi's RS 5, which is the hi-po model that today puts the fun in Vorsprung durch Technik.

So new Stingers stood out as sleek and sexy sedans that could run with the Germans on the road — but without running nearly as much to purchase. The good news is that the same holds true today.

For instance, we recently looked at the typical five-year depreciation rates for a 2021 Kia Stinger GT, and today its KBB Fair Purchase Price has reached $25,000. That means the car has depreciated by about 38.5% in the past five years, which compares to roughly 36.7% for the four-cylinder 2021 Stingers — they currently have a Fair Purchase Price of $21,600. A 2021 Audi A5 Premium Coupe, for comparison, has a baseline KBB price of $24,300. Moving up to the most affordable four-door S5 will take approximately $33,000.

Going back to the beginning — with the 2018 Stinger lineup — will naturally lower prices accordingly. A first-year entry-level Stinger will set you back about $14,500 today, representing a drop in value of 55%. Again going to our A5 family for comparison's sake, that model checks in at $17,850 with a depreciation rate of more than 60%.

That said, a bit of a collector's market is brewing for Stingers, with the likes of Hagerty and AutoGuide, among others, naming the Stinger as a good future candidate for classic status. Pricing highlights include one heavily modded Canadian exclusive — but titled in the U.S. — that went for $45,000 on Cars & Bids in 2022. Moreover, multiple Stingers have hammered for more than $30,000 at the same site.