The higly anticipated Kia Soul has not yet gone on sale, nor has it officially been released to the public, but plenty of official information already popped up to the web. The latest in a series of leaked information, and hopefully not last, is the Soul pricing information that you can see below. This is the complete pricing information for all trim levels of the Kia Soul in South Korea.

As you will see the pricing for the new hotnes from Kia is very reasonable for Korean market with a base price settled at 12,900,000Won (about $11,318), while the top of the line Soul, equipped with 1,6L diesel engine and 2,0L gasoline engine, will sell for 20,950,000Won ($18,382) and 18,900,000 ($16,583) respectively.

Available in U, 2U and 4U trim packages, there will be a choice of three four-cylinder engines, depending on market: the 1,6L diesel engine producing 128hp and two four-cylinder gasoline engines generating 124 and 143 horsepower respectively. Kia will also offer to the customers a slew of exterior cosmetic options, such as “Burner” style alloy-wheels, rear spoiler, different types of exterior decals and bumper skirt at front and rear.

The Soul will first go on sale in South Korea by November 2008, while it’s overseas sales is scheduled to commence early next year. Starting in Europe in February, the sales will then expand to US (in April) and other world markets. Kia will officially take the wraps of the Soul next month, at the 2008 Paris Auto Show, so stay tuned to get all the latest news and information!

1.6L four-cylinder (124hp) gasoline engine:

Soul U 12,900,000…….$11,318

Soul 2U 15,700,000…..$13,775

Soul 4U 18,350,000…..$16,100

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Ups…I did it!

Well, guys and girls, today I received examination results and just wanted to share with you that I passed the exam successfully!! Considering this was my last exam at the university, I couldn’t be happier.

I’m grateful for all of your support at the KIA-WORLD and would really like to thank to many of you, who wished me best of luck with the exam. Thank you!

Miha (himi)
KIA-WORLD blog

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Later today, I’ll show you a brand new Kia SOUL in Java Brown color. Images you’ll see are very special, as they were taken at night and show the Soul in a way we haven’t seen so far. Above, you can see a small “teaser” shot of the Kia Soul at night.

I’d also like to let you know that on Thursday next week, I have an exam at the university. I study at the Faculty of Maritime Studies and Transport and this will be my last exam before I graduate. Therefore, in the next few days I’ll have to devote a major part of my time to studying, which means I’ll spend less time on KIA-WORLD blog. However, I’ll try to be as active as possible and my plan for next week is to provide you at least one Kia report/news each day.

himi
KIA-WORLD blog.

In August 2005 Kia moved its UK import operation to a massive site at Killingholme on the Humber and in just three years thanks to the brand’s growing UK presence the facility has processed 100,000 vehicles.

The record-setting car was a Mars Red pro_cee’d 2.0 CRDi SPORT, destined for a customer of Viking Kia in Southampton.

The milestone import figure is testimony to the growth of Kia’s brand strength and market share in the UK and has been particularly boosted by the short-sea delivery of all the cee’d family and the latest version of Sportage that are built at Kia’s Zilina production facility in Slovakia.

Operated by GBA, the Killingholme facility can easily accommodated the latest generation of deep-sea car carriers operated by Kia’s shipping partner Eukor capable of carrying more than 8,000 vehicles.

Hamish McCowan, After Sales and Logistics Director at Kia Motors (UK) Limited said: “Back in 2005 the decision to move to Killingholme was a challenging one, but it has proved to be a wise move and has delivered considerably improved service to our dealers and their customers as well as delivering efficiencies and economies for our business.

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As we are getting closer to the official launch, several Kia Soul brochures and catalogues are being released to the Kia dealers. So far, we managed to get a hold of the Korean Kia Soul brochure that revealed the Soul will be launched with a variety of exterior accessories, options and colors.

Today, I’m going to post the Canadian Soul accessories catalogue that was sent to me from our dear reader Rob W., who just returned from National Canadian Kia dealer meeting, where he got to see the Soul, Forte and facelifted version of Optima sedan.

Thanks for the images Rob!

More: Everything you ever wanted to know about Kia Soul

Click image to enlarge! (more…)

Sandicliffe Motor Group, the East Midlands family-owned car  retailer, has made one customer’s lifelong dream come true and created a real life “Penelope Pitstop” after spray painting Dr Elizabeth Hodds new Kia Sorento 2.5 CRDi XE in her favourite colour, pink. The car is thought to be unique in being the only bright pink Sorento in the UK.

Dr Hobbs from Rugby has been a GP in the area for 10 years and is known for cheering her patients up with her pink consultation room but she has always wanted a motor to match. After upgrading her Kia with the family-owned dealership and making her request, her dream has become a reality after picking up her newly sprayed motor. (more…)

With the new Soul just around the corner, I thought it would be cool to show you some smashing Kia Soul wallpapers, so you can download them to your personal desktops. All of the wallpapers are high resolution images and are available in two different sizes:

1280 x 1024:

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UPDATE: Kia Soul Hamster song: “Fort Knox” played by the Goldfish! Check the video here.

Higher frequency and large amount of Soul images popping up to the web confirms the fact that we are only a few weeks away from the day when Kia Soul makes it’s official debut. Since we are getting closer to the Paris Auto Show, I’d like to inform all of you that the 2008 Paris Auto Show will officially start on October the 2nd and that highly acclaimed Soul crossover will make it’s premiere on the same day, at 4:45PM – Central European time. We will closely follow all of the happening at the Kia stand in Paris, so you can expect to see a slew of Soul great photos and official information hitting the blog.

Yesterday, I was informed that this time, Kia will not show any concept cars, as the company plans to solely focus on Soul’s debut. While I wouldn’t mind seeing another great looking Kia concept car, I completely understand the decision to fully support the launch of the Soul. Afterall, this is the most important Kia car this year and it deserves all the of the attention, or as one of my dear friends from Kia Motors said, nothing is allowed to take the glory away from it!

Based on the comments and positive feedback from this blog and also from other automotive websites, it seems that Soul has already won many hearts and minds of automotive enthusiasts around the world. For sure, this is one of the most exciting Kia products ever and should do very well on the world car market. There is no doubt it will fight Scions and other youth oriented cars (Nissan Cube) successfully.

Here are some images of the Soul’s exterior and interior, taken at night. As you know Kia equipped the Soul with some interesting interior features, including the lighting speakers- which you can see here- that have built-in LED’s that change color along with the music. Another unique feature are the front seat covers that have the Soul name written in materials that glow in the dark! Here is also a great pic that shows a beautiful center stack console with bright orange illumination.

I hope you like these shots. Provided by Soulclub. UPDATE! More interior images added.

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These cool images of Kia Soul just popped up at the bobaedream website. They show the Kia Soul in several different colors and fitted with all available exterior accessories. Images we see here were most probably cut out from promotional video that Kia produced to announce and celebrate the official release of the Soul crossover.

The all-new Kia Soul is scheduled to debut at the Paris International Motor Show at 16.45 hrs on 2 October 2008.

Click image to enlarge!

Although August is traditionally a slower month for sales, Kia continued to experience strong worldwide sales growth, especially in China and general markets. Despite the challenges facing the industry, this month’s results are very encouraging.

Global sales of passenger cars, recreation vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles in August 2008 recorded 112,564, representing a 9.2% year-on-year increase.

By region, Kia posted year-on-year sales increases in general markets (25,520 units sold, a 50.9% year-on-year increase), China (10,627 units, a 34.7% year-on-year increase), and Korea (23,305 units sold, a 1.3% year-on-year increase). Meanwhile, in Europe and North America, 24,172 (1.9% year-on-year decrease) and 28,940 (5.6% year-on-year decrease) Kia vehicles were sold in August, respectively.

So far in 2008, Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) with 140,836 units sold. It is followed by a close group of three vehicles: the B-segment Rio at 108,414 units, the C-segment cee’d at 103,350 units and Kia’s Sportage compact SUV at 99,608 units. Meanwhile the A-segment Picanto continues to perform well with 68,014 units sold. (more…)

The all-new 2009 Kia Borrego has achieved a five-star crash safety rating, the highest rating possible, for all seating positions in the latest frontal and side impact crash tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This is the first time Borrego has been tested by the government agency.

The seven-passenger Borrego is the latest entry in the midsize SUV segment and offers the same high level of standard safety equipment that has become synonymous with the Kia brand as well as additional features exclusive to the midsize SUV. Standard safety features include: advanced airbags, front seat mounted side airbags, full-length side-curtain airbags for all three rows and driver’s knee airbag (V8 models only); four-wheel disc brakes with an antilock brake system (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), and traction control system (TCS); tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS); electronic brake distribution (EBD); and a brake assist system (BAS). (more…)

Here is another (official) Kia Soul brochure that surfaced over on bobaedream website, and it reveals in full production glory the car that we have seen countless times over the past few weeks. These images, that reveal all the juicy details you need to know about the Soul, were brought to us by enthusiastic Kia fan and our regular reader Patrick. Thanks for the tip Pat! [Source: bobaedream]

 Click image to enlarge!

Another day and another Kia rendering! This time we have a rendering, that reveals how the VG’s rear fascia might look like in the final production form. Obviously this rendering is from the same artist as the one we got two days ago and showed the front of the near-luxury Kia sedan, that is expected to hit the market by August next year.  [Source: Bobaedream] (more…)

UPDATE: Kia Soul test drive

This is the official brochure of Korean version Kia Soul. The eight-page brochure that leaked to the web today reveals a lot more information than Kia has released so far. The brochure lets you know pretty much everything about the car and provides detailed information regarding Soul’s engines, dimensions, trims, options and accessories that will be available on Korean version of the Kia Soul.

In the home market, the Soul will be available with three different trims -U, 2U and 4U. The range-topping 4U trim will offer a myriad of amenities, including rear-view camera,  3,5 inch large rearview mirror mounted LCD display, rear parking sensors, high quality audio system that features 8 speakers and MP3 compatibility, a USB port and auxiliary jack. The range-topping 4U trim runs on 18-inch alloy wheels with 225/45R18 tires.

Customers will be able to personalize their Souls with custom colors and accessories. The Soul can be opted with 18-inch black painted alloy wheels, vinyl tattoos with the shape of dragon, rear spoiler, metal pedals, LED side indicator, aluminium fuel cap cover, side skirts and under spoilers fitted to the front and rear bumper. The Schreyer grille will not be standard on Soul but a part of optional kit.

You should also know that there will be a red-light pulsing audio speakers in front and luminous cloth with the Soul wording on the front seats -see here. Expect to see the word Soul shining out from the cloth in the darkness! Both features will be offered on Soul as optional extra.

Click image to enlarge!

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Kia Motors America reported auto sales for the month of August totaling 25,065, a slight decrease (-6,7% ) from last year’s figures, when the company sold 26,874 vehicles.

Inspite of tough conditions on the world’s largest automotive market, Kia’s year-to-date sales show a 1.3 percent increase compared to last year. In the first eight months of the fiscal year, Kia Motors America sold 210,705 cars and SUVs.

Leading August passenger car sales are Spectra with 6,170 units sold and Optima, with sales of 3,807 units. Mid-sized Optima sedan is also the model to saw the highest jump in sales (+ 25%) compared to last year. Rio and Rondo also both had increases of 19 percent and 15.2 percent over the same period of last year with 3,590 and 3,508 units sold respectively.

As prices of gas go up, SUV sales continues to fall and this is also evident in Kia’s sales numbers for August. Both Kia SUVs, Sorento and Sportage, achieved lower sales compared to August last year, but it has happened for the first time this year that Sorento passed Sportage and landed a notch higher in the sales chart. Year-to-date statistics, however, reveals that Sportage still leads Sorento by about 10,000 units.

As we know Borrego started hitting Kia dealers last month, after it was officially unveiled to US press and consumers. Considering August was not yet it’s first full sales month, it did achieve quite an admirable number of 1,041 units sold. To achieve the forecasted yearly sales of 20,000 units, Borrego’s monthly sales will have to raise to 1800-2000 per month. Check out the August sales table. (more…)