I’m pleased to announce the launch of the new website dedicated to Kia Soul owners and enthusiasts. The Kia Soul Forums is the ultimate meeting point for the present and future Soul owners, where they can discuss on their Soul ownership experience, share their thoughts with other people, get all the latest Kia news and post images of their vehicle.

I would like to invite you to join the Soul community and start discussing at the board. But, before you join the Soul Forum and start posting on the board, please, read the forum rules!

In the past, we have had some unpleasant experience in our existing Kia Forums, with some members discussing completely off-topic, which resulted in a complete mess on the boards. This time, I want the forum to be CLEAN and your disscussions related to the TOPIC! Thank you.

Now jump over to the KIA SOUL FORUMS and enjoy your stay!!

Every once in a while, I check for some videos on Youtube. I’m not really a huge fan of the site, but I simply can’t avoid it as I recieve many emails, from friends, with links to interesting videos every day.

Each time I get to the website I also look for some Kia related stuff. Lately, lots of new commercials and reviews of Kia Soul popped to the site, with number increasing a few days after the Soul made it’s “final revelation” at the L.A. Auto Show.

Today, I came across two new vids that show the all-new Kia Soul in all it’s glory. In the first one, you can see the Soul coated in attractive Tomato Red color and equipped with all the accessories available.

It’s not of the best quality (the video), but good enough to recognize how beautifull this vehicle really is. The Soul you’ll see is also outfitted with black 18-inch wheels and dark-red Dragon vinyls. I think this video was taken a few weeks ago at the auto show in Sao Paolo -Brasil, where Kia displayed entire range of it’s vehicles, including cars like Picanto, Amanti and KND-4 concept.

The other one is a video review taken at the Soul official press event and showcases a black Soul driving on Korean streets. Videos are really cool and not too long, so you just need to watch them both.

P.S.
I wonder if that hot looking girl, standing besides the Soul, comes standard or as a part of an optional Soul equippment!?
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Vehicle that will help Kia Motors keeping up high sales volumes in 2009, will be the upcoming “cee’d plus” minivan. Codenamed YF, the new Kia minivan will be joining European Kia range late next year, when it is expected to start hitting European Kia dealers.

The YN minivan is a brand-new Kia model and belongs to the fast-growing mini MPV car-segment. Technically, the YN minivan is very close to the Soul crossover. It does feature completely different exterior body style, but under the skin, it’s the same car. Both, Soul and YN, will use the same transmissions and a wide range of fuel-efficient gasoline and diesel engines.

It bases on the same platform as the funky Kia Soul. Both use a stretched B-segment car platform, which will later also spawn a next generation Rio hatch, which was announced to make it’s official debut sometime in 2010-2011.

Similar as cee’d hatchback, the YN has also been developed especially for European market, so most probably, it will not be crossing European borders. It will also be built in Europe, but surprisingly, not by Kia! The YN minivan will be produced at Hyundai’s new factory in Czech Republic.

Less than a month ago, Hyundai held an official launching ceremony for it’s first European manufacturing plant. It was announced that Hyundai will build three different models there. At the moment, Hyundai only runs i30 hatch production, but it will soon add two other models to production lines.

One of them will be the Kia YN, which production has been scheduled to commence in November 2009 with an estimated production of 100,000 vehicles annually. Official debut of the YN has not been officially announced yet, but we are expecting to see it for the first time at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show in September 2009.

Related links: 2010 Kia YN

Here are some interesting Kia Motors related news that popped up on the web during this week. I did not reported on them until now, so here is an opportunity to find out about Kia’s activities in different parts of the world.

Kia cutting overseas production
Kia Motors has had to cut overseas production at it’s European and China plants as global recession bites into auto demand around the world. Kia initially planned to build 225,000 vehicles at the Slovakia factory and 160,000 units in China this year, but has scaled down production for several thousand units.

US Kia plant on schedule
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday, citing a source it did not identify, that Kia could delay the start of manufacturing at the factory in West Point, Georgia because of rising inventories resulting from the slowing global economy.

But Mr. Michael Choo, Kia’s spokesperson, has already denied the talk and told no change has been made to the schedule to complete the US Georgia plant by the end of November 2009. He also said that production is planned to commence in December of the same year.

Kia Motors Australia appoints new CEO
Kia Motors Australia has appointed Mr. Terry Im as the company’s new President & Chief Executive Officer. In addition to becoming President & CEO of Kia Motors Australia, Mr. Im retains his existing position as regional Managing Director for Kia Motors in Asia, and also takes responsibility for leading Kia Motors in New Zealand and Pacific countries.

Mr. Im brings to his new role more than 20 years’ experience in the automotive industry, including experience in North America and Asia. Prior to his appointment to the Asia regional headquarters role, Mr. Im held positions at KMC headquarters in Seoul and at Kia Motors America.

Kia Mohave launched in Kuwait
Kia Motors recently launched its new Mohave SUV in Kuwait. Dr Sulman Asoussi, Quality Production Vice Chairman-General Consultant, said for Kia it is “a dream come true”. He added the Mohave is a strong car and best suited for Kuwait’s seasons. Since the establishment of Kia Motors in Kuwait in 1997, more than 40,000 Kia cars have been sold, with the Kia accounting for five percent of Kuwait’s car market

Updated Kia website

Kia Motors America has updated it’s official website. Actually, it has been completely redesigned, so check it out: Kia motors America

Kia Motors America today reported sales numbers for the month of November. The company has once again experienced a slow month with sales falling as much as 38 percent compared to November 2007. Last month, dealers across USA managed to sell 15,182 Kia vehicles. The number represents a sharp decline from a year earlier, when more than 24,000 units were sold.

In addition to monthly sales, Kia Motors America also provides year-to-date sales. Car sales through eleven months of fiscal year have totaled 258,753 units, meaning Kia is about 25,000 units away from last year when 281,405 units were sold by November.

November sales were led by Spectra and Sorento, with Sorento posting a 47.3-percent increase over the same period last year. They were followed by Sedona, which has outsould Rio last month.

Facelifted Optima didn’t do as good as we were used to see in previous months, but that is most probably because dealers have not yet received enough 2009 models, so I expect to see it’s sales picking up shortly.

November has been a bad month for Borrego, but a great one for Amanti. Only 190 units of Borrego were sold, bringing it’s up to date sales to 1,630 units. Borrego’s sales result from last three months proves that these are really not the best times to successfully sell a large-sized SUV.

Kia Motors received prestigious President Award for Design at the 10th annual Korea Design Awards. This award is considered the definitive design award in South Korea and was announced to be in recognition of the company’s design-centered management strategy, that Kia implemented in multiple stages since 2005.

The award was presented by the President of the Republic of Korea, Mr. Myung-bak Lee, and recognizes Kia’s leadership in design. Since Kia appointed Peter Schreyer as a Chief Design Officer two years ago, the company has unveiled a series of new production vehicles and concept cars, focused around what Schreyer calls a “linear and minimalist” design language.

The award also recognized the creative, above-the-line corporate advertising campaign introduced in the Korea market since 2007 as well as newly designed vehicles recently released in Korea. Those models includeLotze Innovation (known as Optima or Magentis in US and European markets), the Mohave Luxury (Borrego), Soul and Forte (on sale as Spectra in US).

President of Kia Motors, Mr. Euisun Chung, said: “Our cross-company pursuit of design excellence since 2005 has finally come to fruition. We will use the Korea Design Award as a stepping stone to continue to infuse our creative design spirit throughout many aspects of Kia’s business, not just limiting our efforts to product design.” [Source: Kia]

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Vice president of sales at Kia Motors America, Mr. Tom Loveless opened the press conference at the L.A auto show, where Kia revealed the Soul urban crossover to the US audience. The company has put 12 different Souls on display at the show, each coated in a unique color and wearing different set of vinyls and exterior accessories.

He talked about the new Soul for a few minutes and provided lots of detailed information. He was later joined by Michael Sprague and Tom Kearns, a chief designer at KMA. Tom talked about how the Soul evolved from a concept to a real production vehicle. The press conference ends with a funny video where Mike Torpey, a talented designer who drew the original Soul sketch, introduces the Soul crossover. We have seen this video a few days ago, and it’s really cool.

Enjoy!

November car-sales chart by model, for Korean auto market, reveals the top selling vehicle in the country has been a vehicle from Kia’s range! To my surprise, the best selling vehicle in Korea in the past month has been Picanto minicar.

With sales of 7,596 units, Picanto beat Hyundai Sonata, a long-time market leader, which took second spot last month. In November, Sonata’s sales fell sharply from previous month (from 11,237 to 6,502 units), while Picanto sales equaled last month’s numbers (7,596 vs. 7,594).

Earlier this year, Picanto received a mid-cycle facelift. It was officially launched in Korean market in January this year, just a few days after Mohave SUV went on sale. Since then, it has experienced a storming growth, with sales increasing 300% compared to last year. In the first four months, Kia sold more than 30,000 Picantos and those Korean consumers who have ordered the car have been waiting for three months to get it. So Kia had to increase it’s production in order to decrease the period of time needed to deliver the car.

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At the moment, Kia Motors operates only one manufacturing plant in Europe, but the ambitious Korean company might soon add another one. Today, we have heared some news that Kia has been considering to build a new engine plant with a capacity of 300,000 engines.

The decision whether Kia plant gets green light is expected to be announced by the end of this year. If the investment gets approved, it will cost Kia between 100 and 200 million Euros and should be completed by 2011. In it’s new new engine plant the company would produce small four-cylinder engines destined to European and Russian market.

“The investment is being currently considered and the decision is expected to be announced by the end of 2008,” told company’s spokesman Dusan Dvorak. He also added that Kia’s European car production for this year will be slightly below 210,000 vehicles, against the originally planned 220,000, as a result of falling demand in Europe.

Many of you have been impatiently waiting for an exciting Kia Soul crossover to make it’s official US debut, and last week, that day has finally arrived. At last, I would say. Since many of US automotive press and media published their juicy first-drive reports earlier this month, I got many requests for more Soul information from our readers.

On the same day, when Soul made it’s US debut, I received an official Soul press pack from Kia Motors, who has kindly responded to my request for sending me some official Soul information.

I have published it here a few days ago. In case you missed it and want to know all the details and information on the US-Spec Soul, please check this link: Official press release of the 2010 Kia Soul.

In addition to that, the official document also included a large number of high-quality interior and exterior images. Today we will look at 12 shots that showcase a beautiful red-black colored interior, while tomorrow I shall post a bunch of new exterior shots. Enjoy the pics!

Kia Soul gallery:

 Click image to enlarge!

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Kia Borrego has just been on sale for less than six months in US market and already received it’s first award. A couple of days ago, Kia Motors America announced Borrego has been selected as the “Best Kept Secret” in the 2009 Editors’ Choice Awards.

Equipped with fuel-efficient V8 or V6 engines, Borrego was chosen for its impressive combination ofcapabilities, space and comfort.

Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing at Kia Motors America said: “Borrego continues to gain strong recognition in the press and among consumers, and its Autobyte selection is further proof of Borrego’s value package. It is a reflection of Kia Motors’ new design direction and a pointer to more outstanding product offerings to come.” Read more about this award at Kia Motors America website. Click here

In the first 10 months of fiscal year, Kia Motors sold 1,172,958 vehicles worldwide. Compared to the same period of last year, this number represents a respectable 12,7 percent year-on-year increase.

In Octber 2008 Kia sold 110,421 cars and experienced a little decrease in sales compared to previous month. Sales decreased mainly due to slowing demand for new cars in the world’s largest European and US markets. The best selling car in October was cee’d hatchback, which outsold the Spectra/Cerato for the first time.

Speaking of best-selling Kia cars, here are the top five Kia vehicles that have performed the best through all 10 months of this year. With 166,688 units sold, Spectra/Cerato remains at the top of best selling Kia models. It has been followed closely by the B-segment Rio at 133,864 units and the C-segment cee’d at 128,672 units.

Ranked in fourth, there has been a Sportage. It has received received a major facelift earlier this year and continues to perform pretty well in the crowded compact SUV market. With sales of 122,330 units it has surpassed an A-segment Picanto in fifth position with sales of 81,136 units.

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Kia Motors America today announced the North American debut of the all-new and highly anticipated Soul passenger vehicle at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.

Designed in Southern California, the Soul is the newest product offering to join the company’s ever-expanding line-up, following the introduction of the all-new Borrego midsize SUV earlier this year.

Soul’s bold and edgy design is indicative of the new Kia design theme, with more package and styling combinations than any previous Kia vehicle.  With Soul’s arrival as an early model year 2010 vehicle to the C-Segment, it allows young and young-at-heart buyers to have the freedom to truly personalize and emotionally connect with their vehicle.

“The Soul is for those who love individuality but don’t like to be categorized by finding the next best thing,” said Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing, KMA.  “Indicative of the new design direction of KMA, Soul is an attractive and customizable vehicle for those looking for something with a little more personality than other vehicles on the market today.

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In an effort to reach the tech-savvy Kia Soul audience and to increase mobile interaction around the new Kia Soul, Kia Motors America today launched a Kia Soul Mobile microsite.

Kia Soul Mobile is a free service accessible via any Web-enabled mobile device at KiaSoul.com in the mobile Web browser. It provides customers access to the latest Kia Soul information and images, as well as access to the main KMA mobile site.

Through Kia Soul Mobile, customers can quickly interact with mobile content while at the L.A. Auto Show through QR (Quick Response) code technology. QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes or SMS keywords that direct users to a specific Web site or page related to a product.

Mobile users can easily text keywords or scan barcodes, using a mobile camera and free QR reader software, to access different pages of the Kia Soul Mobile microsite. The QR codes can be found on printed Kia Soul postcards designed by David&Goliath’s partner Saputo Design featuring the selected artists’ unique artwork and the Kia Soul booth at the L.A. Auto Show.

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