Miss the Kia Stonic? It just got a facelift that we won’t get

The Kia Stonic may have been discontinued in our market, but it continues to live on in other markets such as Europe. And for the 2026 model year, it gets quite the makeover.

First unveiled in 2017, the Stonic is one of Kia’s smallest crossovers and sits below the Seltos in their global lineup. With this new update, it looks the part with the rest of the Kia family.

While the overall silhouette remains identical to before, it gets completely redesigned front and rear faces that look similar to what you’ll see on the larger Seltos and Sorento, wearing the brand’s Opposites United design philosophy.

It now gets Kia’s Star Map lighting signature, with a closed-off Tiger Nose grille, giving it a more EV-like appearance. The front and rear bumpers mimic each other with a hexagonal shape.

The interior also gets a major revamp, also aligning it with the rest of the Kia family, with its horizontal and stacked layout, and a single panel for the infotainment screen and driver’s instrument cluster. It even gets a Multimode Touch Display which switches the lower control panel between audio and climate controls.

Under the hood is a 1.0-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine, available in pure-ICE or mild-hybrid versions. The former makes 100 horsepower and 172Nm of torque, mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or seven-speed DCT. 

Meanwhile, the latter makes 115 horsepower and the same 172Nm with a manual transmission, while the DCT version gains more torque at 200Nm.

With the Kia Stonic’s spot in Kia Philippines’ lineup already taken up by the Sonet, and Chinese production for the model already having ended, it is highly unlikely for us to get the Stonic back in our market. In case you want one, you’ll either have to bring it in yourself or move to a market where it’ll be available.

_{Photos from Kia}