Kia announced that Amanti sedan topped the large car segment in the newest Strategic Vision automotive metric, the SmartGreenIndexSM (SGISM), in the U.S. The SGI reflects the relationships between perceived quality and issues including fuel economy and environmental friendliness.

According to the SGI report, Rondo, Spectra, Sportage compact SUV, Sorento mid-size SUV and Sedona also scored highest in their respective segments. These placements further express consumers are taking note of Kia’s efforts in providing stylish, comfortable and economically-friendly vehicles.

“Seeing Amanti at the top of the SmartGreenIndex is a testament to our continuing consumer satisfaction,” said Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing, KMA. “We also are very proud of the other Kia vehicles recognized by Strategic Vision and consumers, further exemplifying Kia as a consumer-minded manufacturer committed to offering quality, fuel-efficient vehicles to smart, discerning customers.” [Source: Kia Motors America]

With so many upcoming news on Kia Soul, I almost forgot to post the second part of a detailed image preview of the all-new Kia Soul. Well, here it is and there are plenty of great shots. Have fun by checking all of them.

Soul interior gallery:

 Click image to enlarge!

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Kia Forte sedan was launched in South Korean market at the end of August and there are rumors circulating on the world-wide-web that the demand for this attractively styled four-door sedan has been pretty high so far. According to some reports, Kia has sold more than 8,000 units up to date, with 6,000 Fortes being sold in the first 20 days.

At it’s domestic launching ceremony Kia Motors expressed intentions to sell 30,000 units of the Forte this year. About 10,000 units are expected to be sold on it’s domestic Korean market, while the rest will be exported overseas. The overseas shipments for the Forte sedan are starting this fall, with first Fortes being shipped to South Africa, Middle East and Latin America. The official date of Forte’s US sales start has not been released yet, but you can expect to see the Forte at your US dealerships in the first months of 2009.

In 2009, Kia aims to sell 220,000 Fortes, with exports accounting for 170,000 of the total, while a year later, the company plans to increase Forte’s sales figures to 250,000 units.

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Kia Motors is ready to join the hybrid club. At the upcoming Paris Auto Show, the company will unveil a near production gasoline-electric version of it’s eagerly awaited Soul crossover.

Gasoline-electric Soul prototype features Kia’s Gamma 1,6L gasoline engine fitted with electric motor, which delivers an output of 20 horsepower and 105Nm of torque. The gasoline-electric engine pack is mated to the CVT transmission (continuously variable transmission) and returns an average fuel consumption of 4,9L/100km (48MPG US) and carbon dioxide emissions of just 117 g/km. Compared to the standard Soul model, CO2 emissions were reduced by 26%.

Kia Soul hybrid is equipped with an innovative Idle-Stop-Go (ISG) system that automatically switches the engine off -when the car is stopped in a heavy traffic- and on again when the traffic moves. According to Kia, the ISG system cuts emissions and fuel consumption by up to 15 percent! The Soul hybrid also employs regenerative braking to charge it’s battery pack.

Exclusively for it’s Paris world premiere, the Soul hybrid concept will come complete with panoramic powered folding fabric roof and transparent bonnet and floor, so the new hybrid powertrain and battery pack will be easily viewed by the visitors.

UPDATE: Seven Kia Soul models: image preview of all seven Souls from auto show is now available.

Seven versions of the all-new Kia Soul urban crossover passenger car will star in a special “Soul World” as the new segment-busting vehicle makes its world debut at the Paris Mondial de l’Automobile from 2 October 2008.

The eagerly awaited Kia Soul marks a revolutionary expansion of the Kia product line-up. A bold statement of Kia’s determination to succeed as one of the world’s top automotive companies, Kia Soul is destined to appeal to a whole new group of European and global consumers.

“Soul presents consumers with such a broad selection of styling, comfort and equipment choices, that it redefines the concept of freedom. It’s a brand new urban car packed full of liberating ideas - a car that challenges consumers to ‘free your mind’, to build an emotional bond with their new car and to rethink everything they know about Kia,” enthuses Mr Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO, International Business Division, Kia Motors Corporation.

Kia Motors Corporation Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, has overseen the evolution of Kia Soul from 2006 concept fantasy to its 2008 production reality. “The new Kia Soul will be a breakthrough vehicle for Kia on its journey to be seen as a design-led company and the maker of distinctive cars which consumers aspire to own. Conceived in the USA, developed in Korea and fine-tuned in Europe, I strongly believe that the production Kia Soul urban crossover is a completely resolved design that has successfully achieved its own distinctive style.

“Kia Soul is all about creating a car that demonstrates our passion for automotive design, gets Kia talked about, and generates an irresistible customer appeal that will translate into strong sales,” added Schreyer.

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Kia Soul fans, take a few minutes off and have some fun with building your totally unique Kia Soul! Kia Motors Korea launched a new Soul mini-website today, which provides detailed information about the car, performance information, videos, downloads and more cool stuff. In addition to that, there’s also an option to build your own Kia Soul!

Titanium Silver color, 18-inch “Flower” alloy-wheels, dragon decals and other available options, such as sporty body kit, rear spoiler and decoration kit suit perfectly for my Soul. If my poor student wallet held enough money to afford the new Kia Soul, the same car as you see on the image above would be my first choice.

Now, I’m really interested which color, options and engine would you choose for your Soul. So, here’s your turn, build your very unique Kia Soul, choose your favourite color, exterior options and background, and send it to my email. You can do this in three easy steps that are published below.

Make sure you send your Soul image to me and I’ll place it here at the blog! And if you want to add some thoughts about the Soul, don’t hesitate to write some words and share your two cents with all of us!

How to do:

1. Visit official Kia Soul website.
2. Enter the page and wait to load the introduction video or skip it.
3. Click MY SOUL ==> Making Soul, at the bottom of the page.
Have fun!

When you are done, print-screen your Soul and save your image to your computer. Send it to my mail-box at the info@kia-world.net and I’ll upload your Soul at the blog! (more…)

Two Kia models will make their international debuts at the upcoming Paris Auto Show. Taking center stage will be an eye-catching Soul crossover, which had been officially introduced in South Korea yesterday and will be ready to make some splash at the European and U.S. market early next year.

Alongside the all-new Soul urban crossover car, Kia will unveil it’s first true hybrid vehicle. The company plans to present a gasoline-electric powered prototype, based on five door cee’d hatchback. The cee’d hybrid car is still in the stage of development and testing, so it’s full production run is not projected to start before the 2010.

In parallel with its on-going domestic Korean and USA FCEV vehicle testing programmes, Kia Motors is producing a fleet of nine prototype Kia cee’d Hybrid cars especially for testing and evaluation in Europe.

The Kia cee’d Hybrid has been created by Kia R&D to take part in ‘real-world’ test activities.  Like the Soul Hybrid, the cee’d uses an upgraded powertrain developed from the earlier Rio Hybrid.  The cee’d Hybrid now features Kia’s Gamma 1.6-litre gasoline engine, mated to a 15kW (20 ps), 105 Nm AC synchronised electric motor, Kia’s own CVT (continuously variable transmission) and Kia’s new ISG (Idle Stop&Go) system.

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We were just informed that Kia Motors America will be recalling 6680 units of Rondo minivans. The vehicles affected are MY2008-09, equipped with 2,4L four-cylinder engine.

The cause of the recall is a defective pump that may not work properly, which could result in not enough fuel getting to the engine. All affected Rondo models may also experience poor engine starting, engine hesitation and check engine light illumination. 

If your Rondo’s having this kind of problems, bring your vehicle to your Kia dealer to replace the pump or contact the company at 1-800-333-4542. (more…)

Kia Motors held a press event in South Korea yesterday to officially present the Soul crossover to domestic consumers. With the Soul, Kia Motors aims to take the lead in the crossover market at home, as well as abroad. At the event, the company revealed it plans to sell 18,000 units of the Soul this year. Considering the Soul will have a buyer friendly pricing and sports some great styling cues, there should be no problems by achieving that.

Korean online and offline media are the first ones that got to see the Soul up close and their first reports, including large amounts of quality images are coming in. Guys from Careview have just published some great shots of Kia Soul coated in a beautiful Cocktail Orange color and equipped with attractive “Burner” style alloy-wheels. To see their Soul photos, hit the jump at the end of this post.

The Kia Soul will go on sale in Korea this November, followed by Europe, USA and other regions, where it will take on cars like Scion xD and Nissan Cube. Sales in Europe will reportedly commence in February 2009, while the introduction into American and Chinese market is planned for March of the same year. [Photosource: Careview and Megaauto]

Click image to enlarge!

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The Soul crossover is the most anticipated new Kia vehicle ever and once released, the Soul is to woo the youth market with it’s funky style and budget friendly price. Kia wants to inspire passion in young car buyers, and this is the car that represents it’s roadmap to success.

The original Soul was first shown back in 2006 and was designed jointly by Kia’s Californian and Korean design studios, but the final production model was penned by Kia’s new head design Peter Schreyer and his European design team.

Kia Motors already announced to show the Soul for the first time at the upcoming Paris Auto Show, which kicks of on October the 2nd, and with the show just around the corner, more and more official Soul shots surface to the web. The latest in a series of the images really shows the Soul in all it’s glory!…Enough said, let these pictures speak for itself.

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Continuing with our coverage on the Kia Soul, I can show you some high-quality photos that I just recently received to my mailbox. A slew of shots preview just about every part of the interior of Kia Soul. Due to the large number of images I decided to post them in two parts -part 1 today and second part by tomorrow.

Since we have already seen many images of the dashboard, we will first take a look at the back of the Soul’s cabin -the trunk and rear seats. As you can see the Soul features a large cabin with excellent backseat space at backseats. The trunk seems pretty large too, especially when compared to Kia Rio, which is about the same size as Soul. One thing we can’t see from these images is the loading edge, which hopefully will be low enough to easily put the shopping bags and all of other stuff into the trunk. Underneath the luggage floor, there is also a plenty of storage for smaller items.

Click image to enlarge!

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Kia Motors Deutschland (Germany) released a flash video game with Kia Soul in action. It’s a very simple computer game where you get to drive the Soul. By running over the road signs you collect the points and get some basic information about the upcoming Kia Soul. According to the information provided by the website, this is the first level of the game, with the second one coming within a few weeks. You can subscribe to their newsletter to receive more news about Kia Soul.

Drive your Soul here.

Let me start off by just saying thank you for your kind remarks regarding my 2nd generation Sportage.

My name is David Pepiton I’m the 20 year old owner of a truly unique sportage. My ownership of this sportage started in December of 2005 when I started looking for my first car. I started by looking on the Internet searching different manufacturers and models. I found myself on January 4th torn between the 2005 motor trend sports utility of the year the Nissan Xterra and a Kia Sportage the biggest factor being price.

The deciding moment is when I was sitting at the dealership with my grandpa and we stated we would buy a sportage within a week. The sales person came back with a smile on his face and showed us a paper with the asking price one thousand less then we had asked for. Needless to say on January 6th 2006 I drove off the lot with a Kia sportage EX with many options could not get on the xterra such as leather and a sun roof for the amount of money I had paid. (more…)