Kia’s global headquarters has confirmed the demise of the Korean brand’s luxury flagship.
The Kia K9 large sedan is the brand’s flagship passenger car in the Korean domestic market, and is effectively Kia’s take on the previous-generation Genesis G80.
But, as consumer demand shifts towards SUVs and electrification, Kia says it will cease production of its 5.1m-long luxury flagship by the end of 2026 after 14 years of the K9 nameplate, with no direct successor planned – according to Korean publication Hankyung.
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The first-generation Kia K9 was launched in 2012, and marketed as the K900 in markets like the US and Canada, as well as the Quoris in other export markets like Russia.
Sharing its rear-wheel drive platform with the original Hyundai Genesis, the K9/K900 signalled Kia’s shift into premium territory with a large, rear-drive sedan offering V6 and V8 petrol engines.
The second-generation model debuted at the 2018 New York motor show, moving to the Hyundai Group’s M2 platform shared with the second-generation Hyundai Genesis that was launched in Australia in 2014 and then rebranded as the Genesis G80 in 2019. It was offered with both rear- and all-wheel drive.
Kia killed off the K900 in the US in 2021, ahead of the facelifted model launching in the Korean domestic market the same year – which is the iteration pictured throughout this article. Like its predecessor, it was never built in right-hand drive, and therefore never made it to Australia.
According to the Hankyung report, Kia K9 sales in the Korean domestic market have dropped dramatically of late.
In 2022, 6585 units were sold in the brand’s home market, which plummeted to 1870 units throughout 2024.
Last year, Kia sold just 1581 K9 sedans, a further 15.4 per cent decrease on the previous year’s low. So far in 2026, Hankyung reports that just 734 vehicles have been sold for the first half of the year.
Hyundai Motor Group’s complex sedan range is cited as a potential key reason for the K9’s demise in the Korean domestic market, with the latest Genesis G80 returning some 40,000-50,000 annual units consistently since 2020.
The Hyundai Grandeur (Azera in some markets) is also apparently to blame, increasing in size to similar dimensions as the K9 while also offering a number of the Group’s high-end features and technologies. Hyundai’s large sedan is one of Korea’s most popular new vehicles.
Currently, the Kia K9 range in South Korea starts from 60,340,000 won (A$57,384), with the flagship 3.3T AWD ‘Masters’ trim topping out at 79,940,000 won (A$76,023).
Headline available features include quilted Nappa leather upholstery and natural wood trim inlays, a full suite of driver assistance and connected infotainment technologies, as well as the availability of the Hyundai Motor Group’s meaty 272kW 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine.
It’s understood the discontinuation of the K9 will free up production and workforce capacity for upcoming electric models. One of those could be the all-new PV7, larger sibling to the PV5, which is due to start production next year.
There’s also a mention of ‘Project XV1’, a compact electric hatchback being developed for the Korean and European markets for launch before the end of 2027. It’s understood this is the ‘EV1’ companion to the existing Picanto city car.
Other incoming Kia launches mentioned in the Hankyung article include the even larger PV9 electric purpose-built vehicle, due to hit the market in 2029, while Level 2++ autonomous technology is in the works for a 2029 launch, which is said to enable “driverless driving even in urban areas”.
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