Kia keeps its Soul
May 23, 2008 by David Twomey
It will hit the roads in Australia early next year, probably priced around $20,000, but the first chance to get a look at the production version of this all new model for the Korean manufacturer will come at the Paris Motor Show later this year.
Kia Motors Corporation announced that the production version (that’s the first official picture of the final version) of the Soul – and it will be keeping that name in a major win for Kia design chief Peter Schreyer – will be launched in Europe later this year.
Kia Motor’s Australia spokesman Jonathan Fletcher said the Soul would be launched in Australia in early 2009.
The all-new car is expected to revitalise the Korean brand with the younger buyer market.
CarAdvice understands the final specification of the Australia cars has yet to be determined but Kia insiders who have seen the final versions of the vehicle say it’s interior packaging, in particular, is “very innovative” and they believe it will have strong appeal in the local market.
The car is similar in looks to the Suzuki Swift, which has seriously revived that company’s moribund sales, and is about the same size as a Suzuki Sx4, one of the models with which it will compete directly.
Kia’s official release on the car says that the all-new production model will retain the spirit and name of the SOUL concept cars shown earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show and the first SOUL concept car which debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
“Reaction from the media and public to the three SOUL concept cars first unveiled at the Geneva Show in March and shown subsequently at other international events, has been overwhelmingly positive,” enthused Mr Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO, International Business Division, Kia Motors Corporation.
“This reaction, plus the fact that both physically and emotionally, the SOUL concept cars are so closely related to the new Kia Soul production car, made it a natural choice to retain this evocative name.
“The SOUL concept cars reveal a whole new ´fun´ side to Kia. They signal that our new Kia Soul production model is poised to defy conventions and offer buyers a ´world of possibilities´ for expressing their personality.“This new model will reach out to new groups of consumers, appealing especially to the young and young-at-heart – whatever their age,” added Mr Lee.
The three concept cars – SOUL Burner, SOUL Diva and SOUL Searcher – were created by Kia´s European design team led by Gregory Guillaume, under the guidance of Kia´s Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer.
They were developed from the original SOUL concept car designed jointly by Kia´s California and Korea design studios and unveiled in 2006 at Detroit.
Speaking about the choice of name for the original 2006 Detroit concept car, Tom Kearns, chief designer of Kia Motors America commented, “We wanted to inject some life into this car´s design, to give it a soul. And the word ´Soul´ is a homophone for the home city of Kia Motors headquarters, in Korea, so it is a fun play on words.”
Kia´s Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer (left), strongly endorsed that name choice at the Geneva Show earlier this year, commenting,“The name SOUL accurately reflects how people will be able to ´express their spirit – their psyche´ with this new product.
Through a variety of options, accessories and colours, they will be able to personalise their Kia Soul and create a sense of individuality, making their new car a true reflection of their personality.”Looking ahead to the 2008 Paris Motor Show, Gregory Guillaume observed, “Because the new Kia Soul is not 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 trio of Geneva concepts were ´appetisers´ for the new model introduction at Paris, and you can be certain that the new Kia Soul model will retain the core DNA of the three exciting concepts.”The all-new Kia Soul defies classification, and its design will encourage customers to build an emotional bond with this rebellious new car.To be made in Korea from September 2008, Kia Soul will provide a creative platform for buyers to individualise and match their car to their own personality.
-DAVID TWOMEY
Print it: 
so basically its a Scion xB but made by Kia.
Kia can keep its Soul!
Obviously the drivers in other countries don’t care what there cars look like. You couldn’t give me this car.
Well i am in the market for a new car and this Kia is the only thing that has taken my fancy.. it is small and roomy and economical. Kia is not really synonymous with quality but i do think that they have done a great job with this one.
Er, no thanks. Almost as bad as a Daihatsu Mateira.
You all just hate it because its a Kia, if it had a bloody fancier Japanese badge on it, you would all love it.
No Martin. Hate is a strong word. Don’t assume to know what any one is thinking.
It is a mini MPV or aka the cars that should not be.
And yes the Kia badge does hint to its likely poor quality.
If it was a Japanese brand I would still be indifferent to this box like hatchback mutant.
well i guess if a had a vw or bmw youd be like omg its all bangels fault well im 16 and all my freinds and guys in there 20s love the current beemers and in the next 10-20 years we will bew the obnes buying them and you people will be dead otherwise brands turn into jaguar and how old are the people buying the XF? under 40 so get over it and you r brand snobbery
this car would be a bit of a squeez
Hey O! Because you’re only 16 it’s not too late to get an education so that you can learn to spell properly, punctuate and use capitals as well as stringing a sentence together. Until you can do all this, keep out of here so you can stop making an arse of yourself.
Haha, Amen to that Captain Mainwaring! O, short of winning Lotto, you will never own a BMW if you can’t even write a proper sentence. I’m worried about the future if that’s the standard of education in schools now. And I’m only 24!
Oh, and the car looks like a toaster.
But O did make a valid point about brand snobbery
But who was it directed at? I didn’t see anything that was rubbishing the Kia brand. Just this stupid car. BMW have just released a stupid car as well. It’s called the X6. But they will manage to sell a few because there are people out there who would buy a rubbish tin full of dog turds if it had a BMW badge on it. Is that what he/she means about brand snobbery?
Well Captain Mainwing I’m sure that you obviously are’nt a fan of the X6 but in my opinion it”s a beatiful car as with the cls and yes the soul.[not beautiful but quriky] Many people love these kind of cars and there are interior shots on another website so get over yourself and stop kidding around I bet your opinion would change if holden were building this at elizerbeth plant.And I’m sure if kia built the torana and put a kia badge onit and built it in korea you’d critize it.There are so many australian that will buy a car on face value just because it is a Holden or a Ford or a Toyota.And for your information im getting a B in english and a A in maths and legal studies.
Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.
Kia or not, I don’t like it. An out-dated shape with Kia’s poor quality. Just feel the trim, the cheap short lifespan tyre….your better off spending theat little bit extra.
And NO, if Holden,Ford or Toyota released such thing, I’d be the first one to say what a piece of shit it looks like. If Kia, Hyundai or whatever designs a nice car (I love the i30 look) I will give it it’s deserved praise.
And Korea etc is starting to put out descently built cars (It’s like Japan all over again, they were once garbadge believe it or not…)
No Thanks.
FYI, I own a Toyota and have an income “which means” I should own at the very least a beemer or benz..(And not a buzz-box C200 with the C200 badge removed, but the benz badge left on it….. :D)
I’m sure the Japanese market would take to something of that shape, but it wouldn’t work here.
PS – People who buy cars purely based on badge loyalties are silly.
O – Your command of written English is frankly awful. You contradict youself in your first comment complaining at others badge snobbery and going on about you and your friend admiration of BMW and Jaguar. I don’t get what you mean son. You obviously like you BMW’s, fine cars admittedly but expensive and beyond most folks. Kia however compete in a completely different market, budget markets offering average levels of quality and performance and average costs to go with it.
I regularly drive hire cars thro’ work. One of the recent ones, a Hyundai, was a nice car but know where near the competition of the Focus or Astra but not far behind.
Fell free to comment but please punctuate and make sure the content makes sense cos you don’t so far.
Feel free – typo sorry
I hate the i30 mainly sue to the door handles being so low it makes it look akward.
If i had to choose between this and the Nissan Cube, I would pick the Cube.
Although at 25K for the Cube, I would probably go for the Fiat 500.
While the Soul is a Kia, nothing wrong with that, almost every brand has ups and downs, I don’t like the boxy look, somehow the Cube has better proportions in my opinion.
Errr, not for me. Seems like it’s got a bit of the mini cooper influence, at least in the bottom half or am I just completely bleary eyed from last night.
Not to get too far off topic, but I was talking to a ‘Kia’ driver, who owns a 2006 Kia Carnival 8 seater. In the course of conversation I was told that not only would it blow commy/falcon’s to the weeds, it would out handle, out corner, out brake etc etc. Given the size & weight (2tonne) of the Carnival I was struck at the passion (& delusion) of this guy, but it goes to show that some form of badge snobbery exists right across the board, even for ‘Kia’ people.
I6orNothing, your Kia driver mate was talking about Commies and Falcons from 1979.
BTW the whole ‘Kia builds poor quality cars’ is in no way relevant today.
wakey wakey
If it sells the WOMEN will be happy!
a Scion rip off..
People are saying its boxy, hmm, have you seen the new lancer side on??? but it seems everyone loves that…
For the more boxy look, I think I’d rather a Skoda Roomster.
This thing looks like it would have the aerodynamics of a brick towing a pile of bricks!!! will probably have a 1.3 or 1.5 petrol engine that will suck up close to 10 litres per 100ks of fuel around town……not for me thanks!
i saw same post on some other blog. it seems he has copied your post.
keep a track did
regards
Rushit Shah
Oh no, they’ve got hold of a Suzuki Swift!
Pencils ready….. now trace!
I love the irony of ‘Soul searcher’. Kia needs to do a bit more of that.
KIA HAS NO SOUL AND NEVER WILL, they make crap cars and have a cheap tight ass tag attached to them.
Looks good ~
I wanna get it ~~
Looks good. Value for Money
If you want better cars than you need to bring more cash.
Seems everyone is preoccupied with form over function.
If its got good forward and 3/4 forward visibility and few blind spots it will be a practical car to have. Sick of the VE Commodore’s thick A pillars that may look cool but you cant see out of. And the barge lard arse rear end of the wagon oops should that be hatchback whatever, Give me boxy and practical