Kia Find Plenty Of Soul Mates

Despite a lack of heavyweight advertising the new Kia Soul is already proving popular with drivers across Europe.

Early figures show over 5000 units have been sold across Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France and here in the UK. This puts the Soul 13% above Kia's expected target of around 4425 units in the first quarter of 2009.

The lack of mainstream advertising has been down to slow production output and a high demand for other Kia products like the Ceed which is at the heart of Kia's global sales growth. However marketing of the Kia Soul gets underway in the USA and Australia this month and with the Soul’s monthly sales rate accelerating, with 1,334 cars delivered in January, the keys for a further 1,485 cars handed to customers in February and an additional 2,172 units being driven away from Kia dealer showrooms in March, Kia will be confident of supply and will throw more money at going to market.

Already a multi-award winner, the Kia Soul was the first Korean car ever to receive the prestigious recognition of a design award from the world renowned reddot product design competition. Here in the UK Fast Car magazine named Soul the ‘Best New Model for 2009’ and this week in the USA, Ward’s AutoWorld announced the winners of its annual ‘Interior of the Year’ awards. Soul was named ‘Grooviest Interior’ winning its class when looks, value, safety, comfort and convenience were assessed.

Aero Soul

With April fools day just around the corner car makers are trying to lift the industry gloom by offering mockups of their latest inventions.

First up is the Kia Soul with its bolt on spoiler known as the Air Propulsion and Retardation Installation Line.

Designed to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions this simple and low cost system relies on small sensors built into the front and rear bumpers which monitor external wind speed and deploy panels when the wind is sufficient to provide additional directional impetus according to the car’s behaviour.

The system is code marked A.P.R.I.L. for those Soul owners wishing to add it to their accessory list.

Dealers Finally Get Their Soul

Kia started distributing the first batches of its all new Kia Soul urban crossover vehicle to its dealer network.

The official launch is April but Kia will want their dealers to start preparing the Soul for the showrooms, registering demonstration models and getting the cars in customers faces.

Kia have high hopes for the Soul. It certainly looks the part and won't go unnoticed when it passes you on the other side of the road. It's highly customisable and like the Fiat 500, will go on sale backed up with a plethora of different accessory packs offering something unique and catering for every taste.

The first Soul models will have the suspension set up for those bound for the US and Europe. To cope with UK road surfaces Kia drafted in Lotus to redesign the Soul's suspension which also required alterations to the front and rear bumpers. Mazda did a similar thing with the CX7 SUV which was originally designed for the US.

The Soul range starts from £10495 for the Soul 1 which is available in 1.6 petrol only and rises steadily up the top-of-the-range Soul Burner at £14995.

We expect the Kia Soul to do massive things for Kia this year and think the car will be a huge success. The internet has made the world a much smaller place and made it much easier for cars like the Soul, which are a little different from the norm, more accessible to the main stream motorist.

In fact we'd go as far as to say that it's more risky for a car maker to design and produce another Ford Fiesta these days, than it is to get creative and produce a car like the Kia Soul.

Kia Soul Concept Arrives in Detroit

The Kia Soul brought a sunny beach feel to the 2009 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS).

The Kia Soul’ster open-air concept, is a variation on the highly anticipated Kia Soul. The Soul'ster concept has ‘young at heart buyers’ budgets in mind. It’s to be an efficient front-drive car based on the Kia Soul production model, which made its debut at the 2008 Mondial de l’Automobile in Paris in October.

Like the Kia Soul it’s another example of Kia’s increased and long-term focus on design, with a unique face, the Soul’ster has a tough refined charter. This two-door concept, with roadster roots, in an exciting yellow finish, projects a hip industrial look. The windshield has been shortened for a sportier appearance and hunkered down appearance. The two piece roof will enable passengers to expose the front and back seating areas independently. The roll bar, serves a dual purpose and includes a place for the slider tracks, while providing protection not found in traditional convertibles.

The Kia Soul makes its debut in the UK in Spring of this year.