Palais des Congres, Montreal’s downtown convention centre, hosted the 40th edition of Montreal International Auto Show, Canada’s longest running auto event!

Hundreeds of new vehicles of all types were on display, including 32 models making their official Canadian debuts. The MIAS also played host to five concept cars this year. Korean carmaker Kia was presenting two of them.

The main auto show attractions were Kia’s Soul and Kue crossovers that gained a fair share of the attention among visitors! Kia Soul also find it’s place on the list of top 10 vehicles you shouldn’t miss while at the show. The list was put together by Montreal Gazzete and included vehicles such as Audi R8, Tesla roadster, Kia Soul, BMW M3, Subaru Impreza WRX STI and others.

Here are some images from Montreal International Auto Show, provided by Canadiandriver!

Wanna know more informations about upcoming Kia Soul? Join our Soul Forum to get more details about it.

Kia Motors Corporation announced today that its global sales (export retail sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) of passenger cars, recreation vehicles (RVs) and light trucks in January 2008 recorded 103,385, representing a 13.3% year-on-year increase.

By region, Europe, China and general markets posted year-on-year sales increases of 26.8%, 36.3% and 35.7% in January with 26,494, 15,554 and 16,155 units sold, respectively. Meanwhile, sales of Kia vehicles in North America and Korea markets were 23,145 units (3.7% year-on-year decrease) and 22,037 units (4.2% year-on-year decrease), respectively.

Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets in January was the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) with 17,442 units sold, followed by the Sportage compact SUV with 11,667. Meanwhile, the B-segment Rio and C-segment cee’d — Kia’s first car designed and built by and for Europeans – also were strong sellers with 10,673 and 10,457 units sold, respectively. By vehicle category sold, Kia’s passenger cars sold 51,851 units in January, an increase of 37.6% year-on-year.

Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO of Kia Motors Corporation, said, “This is a positive start to 2008 as demand for passenger cars was strong and we also experienced stronger than expected performances in a number of regions.

“What is important, however, is how these sales figures reflect long-term factors such as potential increasing demand for our vehicles as we continue to boost the quality and designs of our product line-up. We will continue to monitor and analyze our performance, and remain bullish that we will reach our aggressive internal sales targets.”

Concepts such as the stunning Kee have shown that design is high on the agenda at Kia. While the coupé is still some way from production, the Pro_cee’d is here now – and it will undoubtedly boost the brand’s image.

As well as being good to look at and decent to drive, it comes with lots of kit and a warranty package Ford and Vauxhall can’t match. Overall, Kia has created a sporty, stylish hatchback that represents excellent value…read more

Click image to enlarge!

Heavily disguised prototype of futue C-segment Kia car was spotted in public again. While ongoing cold-weather testing, the future four door sedan was beeing exposed to unfriendly onroad conditions…and spy photographers at the same time.

Spectra successor, code named TD, is expected to diverge from Kia’s unemotional design theme, incorporating many design cues from the upcoming concept car, Kia is planning to debut, at the New York autoshow in March.

Next generation Spectra is scheduled for release in sometime in early of 2009 as a ’10 model. The first variation to roll of the line will be the four door sedan, followed by a five door hatchback later.

Follow the link to see our first report about 2009 Kia Spectra with more great spy images! [Photo source: Auto Vandaag]

Click image to enlarge!

Kia Motors America (KMA) today announced January sales of 21,355 units. Leading the way for the brand were Rio, Optima, Spectra and Rondo, which all saw increases over the same period last year.”It is a tough economic climate but fuel efficient vehicles like Rio and Spectra continue to sell well even as gas prices remain high,” said Len Hunt, president and CEO of KMA. “We saw a good start in what is typically a slow month and in what is predicted to be a tough year in the auto industry.”

Rio and Optima sold 2,709 units and 3,986 units respectively, both increase over the same period last year. Spectra sold 4,858 units while Rondo, beginning its second full year on the market, sold 3,226 units, both increases over the same period last year.

Kia Motors America (KMA) is the sales, marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles through more than 640 dealers throughout the United States. For 2007, KMA recorded its 14th consecutive year of record U.S. sales.

Kia Motors subscribes to a philosophy of building high value, high quality, safe and fun-to-drive vehicles. Kia Motors prides itself on producing vehicles that are exciting and enabling and evoke the Kia tagline “The Power to Surprise.”

Kia Motors America is the “Official Automotive Partner of the NBA.”

                    MONTH OF JANUARY           YEAR-TO-DATE
  Model            2008         2007         2008        2007

  Rio             2,709        1,624        2,709       1,624
  Spectra         4,858        4,273        4,858       4,273
  Optima          3,986        2,201        3,986       2,201
  Amanti            199          567          199         567
  Sportage        3,064        3,474        3,064       3,474
  Sorento         1,213        2,960        1,213       2,960
  Sedona          2,100        6,947        2,100       6,947
  Rondo           3,226          478        3,226         478

  Total          21,355       22,524       21,355      22,524