Kia Latest Sedan Concept Could Be the Stinger GT’s Modern Replacement

Kia just marked its 80th anniversary by unveiling a bold new sedan concept, the Kia Vision Meta Turismo. Revealed at a special exhibition in Seoul, the concept celebrates the brand’s evolution — from its beginnings as a bicycle maker to becoming a global automotive powerhouse that sold more than three million vehicles last year.

Although the sleek design might spark hopes of a long-awaited successor to the Stinger sports sedan, the Vision Meta Turismo is more likely a forward-looking design study. Kia appears to be using it as a showcase for future styling cues and emerging technologies that could influence the brand’s lineup in the years to come.

Built for a New Era of Mobility

Kia hasn’t revealed all the details of the Vision Meta Turismo just yet, but the company says the concept represents three pillars of its future-mobility direction:

• Performance-focused driving

• Immersive, tech-driven digital experiences

• Spacious, lounge-like interiors

One of the concept’s standout features is a full-width head-up display that spans the base of the windshield. This setup reduces the need for a traditional gauge cluster and keeps critical information directly in the driver’s line of sight, enhancing safety. It’s a technology already appearing elsewhere — BMW is preparing to launch a similar system in its 2027 iX3 EV.

Equally notable is what’s missing: a massive dashboard touchscreen. Kia envisions an interface centered around voice control and steering-wheel-based inputs. In the Vision Meta Turismo, a yoke-style steering wheel introduces three modes — Speedster, Dreamer, and Gamer — each adjusting the augmented-reality elements of the HUD to craft unique driving and entertainment experiences tailored to different environments.

From the outside, the Vision Meta Turismo presents itself as a sleek fastback sedan with extremely short front and rear overhangs. It follows the design trajectory Kia established with the EV4 electric sedan—revealed at the 2025 New York Auto Show but not yet confirmed for the U.S.—and amplifies it with an even more aerodynamic profile. A standout detail is its split-headlight arrangement, which pairs a primary front lighting module with a secondary strip that sweeps along the fender and into a rear-facing camera pod that replaces the traditional side mirror.

Kia hasn’t disclosed what powers the concept, but its long wheelbase and low-slung shape strongly point toward an electric drivetrain. The company remains firmly committed to expanding its battery-electric lineup while continuing to offer internal-combustion models in markets where regulations and consumer demand still support them.

But What About a New Stinger?

Leaked union documents from early 2024 suggested that Kia is working on a high-performance electric sedan—reportedly called the EV8—with more than 600 horsepower and a targeted 2026 launch. According to those documents, the EV8 would serve as a dual replacement for both the Stinger and the K8 midsize sedan sold overseas. The K8, formerly known in the U.S. as the Cadenza, received an update last year and is expected to be nearing the end of its lifecycle.

Officially, though, Kia has remained tight-lipped about any true Stinger successor. With sedan sales continuing to shrink—even the Stinger managed fewer than 5,500 U.S. deliveries in 2023, its final full year—the brand’s hesitation makes sense. The closest we’ve come to confirmation came from Kia CEO Ho Sung Song, who said late last year that a Stinger replacement was “under study,” but offered no further details.

It’s also worth mentioning that Kia frequently creates its own counterparts to Hyundai Motor Group models—and at the moment, there’s no Kia equivalent to the Hyundai Ioniq 6. A Kia-branded take on the stellar Ioniq 6 N, complete with its 641-horsepower punch, would be a very welcome addition to the lineup, if you ask us.