Kia Soul News

The hamsters cruise around in a red Soul while everything else on the streets is in a hamster wheel.

More than 80 per cent of dog owners take their canine companions along in their vehicles.

The Korean car maker will unveil its KV7 concept car at the North American International Auto Show on January 10, a vehicle it says is the latest in its "design-led transformation has been delivering production vehicles." The production cars - the Soul, Cerato, Koup and Sportage among them - all take more than a passing resemblance to the original concept cars that preceded them, but the company is revealing few details beyond the announcement of the KV7's arrival. Kia Australia spokesman Kevin Hepworth said there was little more to tell until the unveiling in Detroit.  "The KV7 is a show car that details of which are not going to be released until the car is unveiled at Detroit, it looks to be a styling exercise and bit of fun for a motor show," he says. The picture shows a squared-off design that has Soul-like profile, with a flat wooden floor and no floor-mounted console (suggesting a new-age drivetrain involving batteries and or hydrogen fuel cell). The front occupants get conventional front doors and the rear space is accessed via gullwing rear doors, with no B-Pillar between them - which suggests rear passengers would need to be "released" by those in charge of the front doors. While it probably won't retain the gullwing doors or the rotating rear bucket seats, the KV7 could point to a seven-seater SUV-style replacement for the long-serving Carnival peoplemover - Kid Vehicle 7 perhaps? Alternatively, the KV7 could point to a new Soul - both the veteran Carnival and the rookie Soul are due for replacement within the next two years.  The new Soul is set for a mid-life makeover during 2011, with an all-new Soul likely two years after that. The long-serving Carnival recently had a mid-life upgrade but is also likely to be replaced with an all-new model in 2013, including a diesel engine change from the current 136kW/343Nm 2.9-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel to one of the more efficient and powerful R-Series diesels already powering the Sorento and Sportage SUVs. All the company's head office says of the KV7 is that it will be "a convention-challenging concept vehicle."

The Soul and Koup show where Kia is going, but the brand is not just a show pony according to the new boss of its Australian office, M.K.Kim.  “There’s no question that much of the change the brand is currently experiencing is inspired by Kia’s chief design officer, Peter Schreyer,” Kim says.“However, it is just one factor that has contributed to the shift in Kia’s brand perception.   “Our line-up of cars also played a role. Kia has focused on delivering cars that offer refined performance, safety and equipment, and this is now being recognised in the market.”Kim says this cycle of new product was behind the brand’s improved local sales results for 2009.  “(Last year) was a turning point in the history and image of Kia Motors in Australia,” he says.“Our new products drove stronger sales. As a company, Kia has also vested significant resources in exposing people to our brand and this is now starting to pay dividends.” That exposure included a strong play for the youth market – with moves like sponsorship of the popular Live at the Chapel music program – but Kim says the brand is still aimed at families.“We aren’t just looking to appeal to Australia’s youth, we are looking to engage the ‘young at heart’,” he says.  “Kia’s brand position was traditionally perceived as value for money and family orientated – a new car at a reasonable price that growing families can afford. Our current positioning is more exciting, dynamic and youthful – a good looking quality car, offering value for money that an individual or family can be proud to own.”Kim says there are still further opportunities here for Kia, saying Australian car buyers are keen to get both quality and value for their dollar.  “I believe consumer confidence in a lasting quality car brand outweighs the prospect of saving a few dollars upfront – consumers are more inclined to delay the purchase until they can afford what they really want,” he says.“Australians would rather go for a brand they trust and aim to get more ‘bang for their buck’ – the best value-for-money deal, with the most inclusions. “Kia’s new products can take advantage of this fact by offering new car buyers a good looking, quality, value-for-money product they can afford now.”While he’s aware of Australia’s emotional tie to the locally-built large sedans, he also believes the local buyers will welcome the electric and fuel-cell vehicles Kia plans to bring to showrooms overseas by 2012.  “The Australian market is aware and well-educated to the plight of the environment and the threat that climate change poses. We as a car manufacturer need to acknowledge this concern and deliver a product that addresses consumer needs,” Kim says.“It is interesting to note the acceptance of diesel in different markets, even those with a passion for large sedans. It is very possible that alternative efficiency technology will travel the same road into the mainstream and gain traction, once performance and distribution concerns are ironed out.  Globally Kia is determined to bring affordable and usable green technology to consumers around the world.”

A widely varied field from the soft-roader Audi Q5 to the baby Volkswagen Polo is competing for the biggest prize in world motoring

Those who used to laugh all the way to the bank are now sobbing over a plummeting bottom line.But the crop of April Fools Day spoofs still doing the rounds showed that there’s a sense of humour – and a sense of the absurd – out there.One of our favourites, tying in with the Australian launch of Kia’s Soul crossover vehicle, was their announcement of the Aero-Soul concept “that reduces fuel consumption and exhaust emissions with a simple and low-cost system called Air Propulsion and Retardation Installation Line.”The system uses sensors to measure wind speed and deploy panels when it is sufficient to harvest the breeze to help push the car along.Strong hints about what was behind the press release could be found in the system’s A.P.R.I.L. acronym, and also the comments from Kia “Systems Manager Avril Babo” (April Fool).But anybody keeping an eye on the recent Kia styling coming from the pen of design guru Peter Schreyer – who did the iconic Audi TT – would be a bit suspicious about those appendages on the Aero-Soul. We just couldn’t see Schreyer allowing that kind of ugliness.As you’d expect, Brit show Top Gear had a punt as well, announcing that the next series would focus on bicycles, and quoting host Jeremy Clarkson as saying – with an element of truth — “my contempt for human-powered transport has been well-known for a long time, but you have to face facts: the car industry is on its knees, Peak Oil is just around the corner and I'm not getting any younger. Frankly, it's pretty pathetic when a male-menopausal baby-boomer tries to pretend that he's still a boy racer.”Richard Hammond – lover of high-tech German cars – enthused about carbon frames and 14-speed hub gears. Traditionalist James May said he’d ordered a penny-farthing. But promised he wouldn’t grow a beard or wear sandals.A BMW press release promised a Magnetic Tow system jointly developed with NASA. A sneaky unit discreetly mounted on the front of your BMW projects an enhanced magnetic beam 20 ahead, finds a target car and locks on behind it. “The driver is then able to take his foot off the accelerator, turn off the engine and let the car in front do all the work. The towing car will not notice any change in manoeuvrability” the release says.Hyundai trumpeted a new version of the little i10, targeted at “the booming market among world and religious leaders” who are concerned about both security and the environment. It features interior fabrics woven by monks, an Armour Protected Roof Integrated Lining (A.P.R.I.L) and a five-year warranty that is transferable in the case of lost elections or military coups. “The first demonstrator is due to be trialled by a German customer who currently resides in Italy.”In a similar religious theme, a clever jokester on NZV8.com announced that Chrysler has been bought by the Catholic church. “It will take control of the failed automaker on April 10 and hopes to resurrect it over the following four days. The new company will be called Christler. Employees ratified the change en mass.”Autoline Daily had Exxon promising to bail out GM, including paying off all the struggling giant’s debts – as long as GM agrees to cancel plans to put its electric Chevrolet Volt on the market.Their news bulletin also had and an environmental organisation buying the Hummer brand and planning to developing a version fuelled by bat guano.And frankly, we’d like to see that.

When the square-rigger Soul hatch lands in April Kia expects to receive just 500 cars for the year.Kia Australia president and chief executive officer, Terry Im, blames international demand, saying he hopes to improve on those numbers by leveraging the factory to push 1200 our way."Initial supplies will be constrained though," he says.For Kia the Soul is a shape-shifting car."Even our dealers are saying it will help change perceptions of Kia," Im says.Initially all Souls will be sourced globally from one of Kia's South Korean factories.Like the Nissan Cube and Toyota Scion xB, neither of which is sold here, it is aimed at the Gen Y buyers.But Kia Australia's head of product planning, Nick Reid, says its interior space and packaging will also appeal to a wider audience.Like the Mini Cooper, each Soul will come with a huge range of individual trim and paint combinations, he says."We're looking at offering all the customisation available in other markets," Reid says."It's a key part of the Soul strategy."The car's distinctive high-riding design and bulging wheel-arches give it an off-road look but the car will be a front-driver only.The Soul is 1610mm high but the base of the windscreen is 135mm higher than a typical small car, the hip-point is 120mm higher and the ground clearance is raised by 45mm.Kia is not talking prices yet but buyers can expect the Soul to start from the low $20,000s.It will have a choice of two engines, either a 94kW 1.6-litre petrol or turbo-diesel powerplant.About 40 per cent of buyers to opt for the diesel, Reid says.The Soul is one of several new Kia arrivals this year.A two-door version of the Cerato, called the Koup, arrives around October, the Magentis facelift mid-year and a new Sorento four-wheel drive lands towards the end of the year.The sub-$30,000 Koup is tipped to be a turbo-charged version of the 2.0-litre engine fitted to the Cerato.The Koup show car unveiled at the New York auto show featured a direct-injection 2.0-litre that developed 216kW/391Nm. 

In a swiftly changing motoring environment carmakers are searching for new ways to cut fuel use and emissions and improve efficiency.Among the hundreds of concepts and new and updated models on display at the Paris motor show over the next 15 days are some definite standouts. Renault has combined gull-wing doors, comfort, refinement and a slippery design with a hybrid diesel engine and plonked it all on massive 23-inch wheels in its range-topping Ondelios concept car (cover picture).It's 4.8m long and has a hybrid 150kW version of the 2.0-litre dCi engine.There are also two 20kW electric motors at the front and rear to provide extra boost recovered during braking.Mercedes is unveiling one of the world's fastest cabriolets. The SLR McLaren Roadster 722S has 478kW of power and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 3.7 seconds before reaching a top speed of 335km/h.Just 150 of the two-seater supercars will be built. It complements Mercedes' other show star the ConceptFascination, a wild two-door sportswagon. It's a modern version of the old British “shooting-brake” where a wagon tail has been planted on a sporty saloon.Citroen's crossover concept, Hypnos, hasa 150kW engine that boasts miserly fuel efficiency figures of 4.5-litres per 100km.However, it what's inside that is different. An extremely colourful rainbow light show highlights its sleek styling.Honda is using the Paris show to highlight its green commitment. Star of its stand is the new Insight Concept, a dedicated petrol-electric hybrid car in the vein of Toyota's Prius.It is expected to go into production within the next few years.From the US, GM will debut a close to production version of its revolutionary Volt electric car. Chevrolet is showing its new crucial small car the Cruze, plus its first seven-seat multi-purpose family car, the Orlando show car.A form of SUV-family van and wagon crossover, it has a 2.0-litre diesel engine.Alfa Romeo is unveiling its little MiTo compact which is due to come to Australian the middle of next year.Fiat is showing the MiTo's likely competitor in the super-mini category, the 120kW 500 Abarth EsseEsse (SS) plus its PUR-O2 eco-range of cleaner, greener 500s. New technology includes the ability for the engine to turn itself off while idling and back on to continue driving.Mini will show its all-wheel-drive Crossover Concept, while BMW will premiere its X1 wagon. The Mini is intended for adventurous twenty-somethings, while the Concept X1 will go into production as a safe, practical family car.Chasing a similar small, sporty car market is Audi with its new A1. The near-production version will be a feature of its stand.Saab is exhibiting its 9-X Air concept car, while Volvo is debuting its production-ready ultra-safe XC60 crossover which is headed for Australia.Porsche has several new models in the911 range plus the go-anywhere Cayenne S Transsyberia super-4WD.Mazda's all-new Kiyora urban compact four-cylinder concept car will sit alongside the world debut of production cars, the new generation MX-5, the Mazda6 with a 2.2-litre turbo diesel engine and the Mazda2 1.6-litre diesel.Lamborghini has joined the rush to GT supercars with its four-door Estoque concept.Like Porsche's Panamera, Maserati's Quattroporte and Aston Martin's upcoming four-seater, the Estoque, brings a new versatility to one of the world's most uncompromising sports marques.Lamborghini stresses that although there are no production plans for the AWD Estoque it has been developed as fully production capable.Toyota has three world premiere vehicles ranging from its little four-seater city car, the iQ, to the all-new Avensis sedan and wagon and the 1.4-litre diesel-engined Urban Cruiser All Wheel Drive.Ford is debuting the all-new Ka city car with a choice of 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litrediesel engines, the hot Focus RS and the new economic Fiesta.Volkswagen will show off its latest Golf GTi. The hot hatch for 2009 is cleaner, smoother and much more refined than earlier cars.It will still come with a 155kW turbo petrol engine and the promise of a 7.2-second sprint to 100km/h, but is missing the wild body bits of earlier GTi road runners.Nissan's debuting Nuvu concept is just three-metres long. It only has two normal seats plus a third that folds down for luggage and groceries. The city car has solar panels on the glass roof.Ferrari will debut its chic two-seater V8 California sports car.From Korea will come Hyundai's i20 small car and a 2.4-litre engined hybrid SUV.Kia is showing its Soul range of urban crossover concepts that come with either petrol or diesel engines. There's also a hybrid version. Additional reporting by Kevin Hepworth and Paul Gover. 

We have to have Soul: that's the message from Kia Australia's Jonathan Fletcher as the company prepares to add a new hatchback to its line-up. Fletcher says the funky Soul will arrive here early next year, possibly in time for the Melbourne Motor Show. However, specifications and prices are yet to be confirmed, Kia expects prices to start about $20,000. Fletcher is unable to confirm engine options, but the little car is tipped to come with a 1.6-litre petrol engine and possibly a 2.0-litre petrol alternative. A turbodiesel is also likely, though this will depend a lot on levering some price advantage from the South Korean factory. “We'd like to have a couple of models on sale, but we won't know too much until the Paris Motor Show in October,” Fletcher says. Kia describes the Soul, which will debut in Paris a month earlier, as a “segment buster” pitched at younger car buyers. “It's probably a bit of a cliche, but it will appeal to funky younger buyers,” Fletcher says. “The car has excellent packaging and space efficiency.” In size it is close to the Cerato, but with a clever upright cabin and plenty of rear passenger room and luggage space. It is not expected to replace another Kia model and will be positioned around the Cerato and Rio. Visually, the styling closely follows the concept car shown at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Kia subsequently displayed three concepts at the Geneva Motor Show in March — the Soul Burner, Soul Diva and Soul Searcher. They were created by Kia's European design team led by Gregory Guillaume, with input from Kia chief design officer Peter Schreyer. The original Soul concept was designed jointly by Kia's Californian and South Korean design studios. Kia North America chief designer Tom Kearns says the Soul name was chosen to inject life into the car's design. “And the word Soul is a homophone for the home city of Kia Motors headquarters, in South Korea, so it is a fun play on words,” Kearns says. Guillaume, who is looking forward to the Paris Motor Show, says because the Soul isn't a replacement for an existing vehicle and is destined to play a unique role within the Kia global line-up, it “can be a bit of a rebel”. “The three Geneva concepts were appetisers for the new model introduction at Paris, and you can be certain the Soul will retain the core DNA of the three exciting concepts,” Guillaume says.  

The name might not survive, but the Kia Soul is definitely being turned from a motor-show concept into a compact four-wheel-drive production model.