Kia Soul News

There’s no denying that its Soul “urban passenger vehicle” is a solid hit that seems to defy demographics. Though pitched at Millennial buyers, we’ve seen plenty of fifty-somethings behind the wheel, too. Drive a Soul and it’s easy to see why: the diminutive MPV is practical, affordable and nimble enough to provide some degree of entertainment value. For 2014, Kia has an all-new Soul to talk about, and it’s launching its funky people mover at this week’s New York AutoShow. Kia says the new Soul was born from the Track’ster concept, but the only similarities we see are the new Soul’s wider stance and updated front fascia. The 2014 Soul is longer, too, and blessed with a stiffened chassis to reduce noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). Though you may not feel it in urban cruising, the new platform’s 28.7 percent increase in torsional rigidity should help in the twisty bits, especially when you factor in the “significant suspension upgrades” Kia refers to. Up front, four subframe bushings help reduce ride harshness, the stabilizer bar has been moved rearward and the steering box has been moved forward; Kia claims the result is better on-center feel and improved handling. Out back, the rear shock absorbers have been reoriented and lengthened to boost ride comfort. The 2014 Soul gets the same multi-setting electric steering unveiled on the 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT. Drivers can choose between Comfort, Normal and Sport settings, but only the steering effort (and not the ratio) actually changes. Under hood, Base Souls get a direct-injected 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, rated at 97kW of power and 160Nm of torque and bolted to either a six-speed manual or optional six-speed automatic transmission. Stepping up to the Plus or Exclaim trims gets you a direct-injected 2.0 litre four-cylinder engine, good for 122kW and 205Nm of torque. Plus versions can be had with either six-speed gearbox, but the Exclaim comes only with Kia’s six-speed automatic. Base Soul models come with a sizable list of amenities, including Bluetooth connectivity; SiriusXM satellite radio; a six-speaker audio system; a telescoping steering wheel and power locks, windows and side mirrors. Choose the Soul Plus, and you’ll also get 17-inch alloy wheels; side mirror-embedded turn signals; auto on/off headlights; unique fender trim; a floor console storage box; Kia’s UVO eServices; a rearview camera and a rear center arm rest. Atop the range is the Soul Exclaim, which adds 18-inch alloy wheels; fog lights; unique bumpers; projector headlights; LED running lights; LED tail lights; a piano black center console; a cooled glove box; a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear knob; a 10-way power driver’s seat and an auto dimming rearview mirror. The 2014 Kia Soul will arrive in Australia early in 2014, with pricing and further details to be announced closer to launch. www.motorauthority.com  

It's planned as a 2014 model with more comfort, convenience and quality than the old one.  

Kia's star hamster ambassadors are spinning for the Soul again, but with a Back to the Future twist as they take over an 18th century opera house. The upper crust crowd learns how to party down to the tune of the Axell remix of "In My Mind". Cute and fuzzy, but the set-up doesn't allow the hamster 'street' personalities -- which were the main charm of the previous commercials -- to show through. We wonder whether Kia can spin this concept any further.  

...- the reigning Carsguide Car of the Year - it also opened the door for a new Soul. According to Carparazzi, the new Soul is now testing in the USA with a bigger and bolder body, and even a new shape for the side mirrors. The cabin is also predicted to be much rooimer with better quality. Here in the second half of 2013 for just over $20,000.

... rival the prices on the BMW options' list for things like salad and spuds.So it's no surprise that the top end of town calls the shots at the Palexpo alongside Geneva Airport as Europe's carmakers go head-to-head for the first time in 2012. Ferrari and Lamborghini battle for go-faster bragging rights as Rolls-Royce and Bentley get serious about family motoring for the ultra-rich, while Infiniti pitches an new exotic coupe and even Ssangyong of Korea goes upmarket with a new concept. There are also dozens of one-off dream machines and hotrod tuner cars in Geneva, a show that is traditionally dominated by European design stars including Pininfarina and Giugiaro. But there is plenty, too, for ordinary car buyers as the Fiesta ST brakes cover, Hyundai updates the i20 and teases with the Veloster Turbo, Jaguar confirms an XF station wagon, Audi and Mercedes-Benz previews their A3 and A-Class, and Ford even updates its box-boring Transit workhorse. Picking the best of the best is tough with so much gorgeous stuff on the stands, but Alfa Romeo is the winner for 2012 and edges out the Infiniti Emerge-E with its Disco Volante.The pretty little red coupe is dreamy without being stupid and is already confirmed for production, although the slightly-retro body will be draped over Alfa's existing 8C Competizione chassis - 4.7-litre V8, 335kW, 0-100km/h in 4.2 seconds - which means it's no chance for Australia with only left-hand drive.The Ferrari F12 is exactly what you expect from the fastest car to wear the badge - 340km/h and 0-100km/h in 3.1 seconds - including a swoopy body that taps the past as well as the influences that created the California convertible, but Lamborghini goes even better with an Aventador J preview car that is snapped up for a rumoured $2.8 million ahead of genuine production of an open-topped Aventador supercar.Rolls-Royce updates the Phantom with a new nose that still demands respect, as well as tweaking its colour choices with a two-tone approach that triggers memories of cheap seventies vinyl roofs, and Jaguar gets serious for families with an XF Sportbrake that will still struggle in a world of SUVs.Further down the food chain, the Audi A3 looks good but not as edgy as an A-Class that must break away from the bus pass generation into something closer to the Y-Gen futurists, and Volkswagen previews a more car-like Tiguan crossover with its Cross Coupe.Hyundai has a preview of a new flagship coupe called the i-oniq - did it mean ironic? - Kia shows a Track'ster that will become the new Soul, Honda shows the CR-V design that's coming to Australia, and the pocket rocket Ford Fiesta ST breaks cover with a confirmation for Australia.The action and excitement at Geneva goes on and on, and that is - really - the best thing about the show. Detroit in January hinted that the word's carmakers are finally emerging from the austerity and fear of the global financial crisis and the big-spending effort in Geneva confirms it, with good news for almost everyone from Euro billionaires to ordinary Aussie families.PG PICKS:1. Bentley EXP 9 F.Only one word fits - Ugly. With a big capital U. The hulking British bulldog might tick the boxes for cashed-up families, but this SUV makes a LandCruiser look elegant, and subtle.2. Giugiaro Brivido.Exactly what you expect to see in Geneva, as designers go all-out to impress the crowds - and each other. Not for production but a great looker with huge gullwing doors.3. Range Rover Evoque Convertible. A certainty for production as Land Rover milks its most successful design - ever. This one will never go bush but is being fast tracked for Double Bay and Toorak.4. Ssangyong XIV-2. Who knew the South Koreans could trump the Euros with a design that combines SUV practicality with a coupe-convertible body? A big surprise.5. Toyota FT-Bh: Just when you thought the uglies were done, Toyota lobbed with this. If it's the future for hybrid cars then sales will be slow. Very slow.

Kia in the US has released a teaser image of the funky Kia Track-ster Concept.The Track-ster – based on the boxy Kia Soul made virally famous with the Kia Dancing Hamster series of commercials – will be unveiled Chicago auto show next week.Penned at Kia’s California design studio, the Track-ster is essentially a sports coupe take on the Soul, and warps its boxy lines slightly with a higher waistline and large alloy wheels under swollen wheel arches.Kia said the Track-ster will carry a turbo engine. However – unlike the Soul-ster that preceded the production version, Kia says this concept won’t make it from show to showroom.

The new version offers more pep per cubic metre than before, picking up a new-generation petrol engine and an improved selection of transmissions. Kia Australia spokesman Kevin Hepworth admits the 1.6-litre petrol version - that remains in the range - was considered a bit underpowered. "The 2-litre gives the Soul better performance yet is still very efficient," he says. The performance has improved but Hepworth says sales could be better. "It's a bit of a hidden secret," he says of the 397 sales to October. "Sales are quiet but steady. Owners are older than our original research - a lot older than in the US for example where it's very much a Gen Y car. It is a car that makes a lot of sense. It has a high hip point so it's easy to get in and out, is a sensible size for parking in the city and has lots of space and versatility." Kia recently upgraded the Soul's sheet metal with a new face and improved interior features. Mechanically, a six-speed automatic replaces the old four-speed unit and a six-speed manual replaces the previous model's five-speed gearbox. The 2-litre - which comes only with the six-speed automatic - is from the "Nu" family of engines and has 122kW/200Nm. It joins the 95kW/157Nm 1.6-litre petrol and 94kW/260Nm 1.6-litre turbo-diesel. The Soul comes in two trim levels. The "base" model gets the 1.6-litre petrol engine, 15-inch steel wheels with 195/65R15 rubber, six airbags and Bluetooth. It costs $21,490 as a manual and $2000 extra for the auto. The Soul+ gains the 2.0-litre petrol engine or 1.6-litre turbo-diesel, 18-inch alloys with 225/45 R18 rubber, fog lamps, luggage cover, roof rails and driver's seat height adjustment. This model is priced from $26,990.

 IT looks like it should wear a bow and appear at birthday parties but the success of the Kia Soul is no laughing matter.The present box on wheels soon gets a bigger engine and more appeal to boost its value. It is selling its socks off in Europe and while Australia isn’t too sure, it’s become one of the preferred mobile advertising billboards and a surprise winner with elderly motorists.That comes as the biggest surprise to Kia who expected the Soul to knock the socks off the  youth market. Instead, says Kia Australia marketing manager Steve Watt, it has become popular with the more mature buyer who like the high seating position and versatile interior. The slab-sided box shape has become a winner with advertising companies and private businesses who want to shout their wares. Kia says the updated Soul gets here early in 2012, a year after its first showing at the New York motor show. Australia picks up the 2-litre “Nu” engine as an option to the 1.6-litre petrol and 1.6-litre turbo-diesel. It will be the first time the Nu engine makes an appearance in Australia and precedes its inclusion in some other small Kia models later in 2012. Unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show today, the European-spec Soul only gets the 1.6-litre engines. Australia will get more engines and the choice of six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions but misses out on a few small details, including the LED daytime running lights and tail ights as shown on the US-spec model at the New York show. There will aso be no GTI engine - a turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol - for Australia as it’s only destined for the US. Kia Australia spokesman Kevin Hepworth says “the fact Ausrtalia misses out on the GTI engine is why we get the new 2-litre engine’’. The car gets an external  refresh with a bigger front air dam and, at the rea, a bigger black bumper insert panel, plus 18-inch alloys and new door handles.Inside is a revised centre console design, circular LCD ventilation controls and new fabrics. Europe gets an optional EcoDynamics pack, which includes Kia’s ISG (stop-start system) and AMS (alternator management) which the company says cuts emissions to 125g/km CO2 for the diesel and 139g/km CO2 for the petrol models.

But they're not doing any old dance. They're shuffling. And they're doing it harder, faster and better than any hamster has ever shuffled before.Did you see their performance during the MTV VMA's? If not, here is the encore presentation.Not only are the hamsters making a comeback; the Kia Soul, the urban crossover vehicle that started a craze is back and better than ever delivering more power and better fuel efficiency than ever before, the 2012 Kia Soul, "a new way to roll".

The campaign for the Kia Soul sees the hamsters rapping on the virtues of the boxy Soul while less hip hamsters cruise the streets in giant toasters and washing machines - in a fairly sizable dig at Toyota’s reputation for turning out dull cars.It’s not the first Effie for Kia, which won the Silver award last year for the same campaign’s opening ad, in which the hamsters cruise around in a red Soul while everything else on the streets is in a hamster wheel.Awards are one thing, but selling cars is another. Kia Australia thinks the entertaining approach translates into more buyers. "The ad is really popular over there, and I would think any sort of interest created would be worth sales somewhere down the line," Kia spokesman Kevin Hepworth says. "I think fun in advertising is important and we showed that with the Grandmaster Flash ad for the Sportage."So with the success of the rapping hamsters, perhaps we should stay tuned for a ‘cute Aussie animal’ ad for the Soul. Break-dancing wallabies with a chorus line of koalas should do nicely.