Kia: Stinger is a

Kia is confident it has the right stuff to appeal to heartland Aussie-car buyers with its new Stinger sports sedan.

Speaking to Australian media after the reveal of the Korean brand's new flagship on the eve of the 2017 Detroit motor show, Kia Motors Australia boss Damien Meredith said his company will "do everything" it can to fill the void left by iconic Aussie muscle cars such as the Ford Falcon XR8 and Commodore SS.

That is expected to start with a significant marketing campaign heralding its arrival in local showrooms around September - coincidentally the same time that Holden shutters local production of the Commodore before switching the nameplate to a fully-imported model in early 2018 and a year after the final Ford Falcon rolled off the line. It could eventually go as far as Kia backing an entry into the Supercars series with the Stinger, which would be ideally suited to the new-generation rules considering its rear-wheel drive configuration and twin-turbo V6 engine.

"Firstly, [Commodore and Falcon] are disappearing but the market isn't and nor are the buyers," Meredith said.

"What we have to do is make the Stinger be a logical fit to replace them, and that is up to us in terms of how we position it, how we price it and make sure we do everything to ensure the car can replace what's been an historic performance area for locally produced cars.

"It's a challenge, but we think we can get some good results from it."

When asked directly whether that includes, figurately speaking, taking Muhammad to the Mountain and if Kia has any firm plans to enter motorsport, Meredith was reticent to dismiss the notion but admitted there are no concrete plans in place at this stage.

"I think the key to it is making sure this vehicle appeals to that void first," he said.

" Is racing a part of that? It possibly could be but that decision hasn't been made."

Any Supercar series entry is unlikely to happen until at least 2019 considering the lead-time required to negotiate and sign-off a deal with existing outfits as well as the development period needed to tune the 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 for a pure racing application.

Considering the financial investment that is also required (which industry sources put at least $5million over three years in terms of sponsorship, engine development and leveraging the relationship outside of the series) it is still a long shot - but not an impossible one - that Kia will be on the grid before 2020.

Whatever the case, Meredith believes the Stinger will provide a halo for the burgeoning brand that rubs off across the rest of its range, potentially leading to improved awareness and increased sales for all of its models.

"This is a game changer," he said.

"It puts the brand in another sphere and now it is up to us to make sure we take advantage of it in terms of the image. It really shows what Kia can do with product.

I think" it will [rub off on our other products]. What I hope will occur is that a car like this will bring a lot of attention to the brand, and if we can get the car into market at the right price then... we won't sell a lot of them this year, but with a full year in 2018 it might be the car that replaces Commodore and Falcon performance vehicles in Australia.

"It will certainly help the brand and there is no doubt it will help us sell more motor cars in terms of our other models, and it may also turn out that we can get reasonable volume out of it too by filling a void left in the performance area. There are a lot of options open to us and you can understand our excitement."

Meredith conceded the company may also have to reduce the price of its Optima GT to allow the Stinger to take up its logical position above the front-wheel drive sedan. By doing so, he believes the Stinger's arrival could have a positive effect on the more conservative machine.

"I believe if we get Stinger right then it could help Optima, and if that means we have to re-jig its position from a price point of view then we will do that," he said.

"I am an eternal optimist, so I think Stinger could help Optima in the long run."

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