Kia delivers 1000th Soul in the UK market only 100 days after its inaugural launch. The most popular Soul in the UK is Vanilla coated “Shaker”, equipped with CRDI diesel engine. 

If you followed our monthly sales reports lately, you must have noticed increasing US sales numbers for the Soul crossover. Since Kia put its youth-oriented crossover on sale four months ago, more than 8.000 people drove it home already. And these are only US  sales numbers. If we add around 1000 Souls that are being sold in Canada each month and count also increasing European sales, it becomes more obvious that the 2010 Soul is a vey, very popular in just about every corner of the globe.

Soul has been selling particularly well in the UK market. According to Kia Motors UK, the company needed only 100 days to sell the 1000th Soul! Selling 1000 cars of one model  in only 100 days after its official launch is a major milestone for the company, especially when considering the current economic gloom. So congrats to all of you @ Kia UK!

A happy Soul owner has driven home the Soul Shaker, coated in Vanilla exterior color and equipped with 1.6L CRDi diesel engine. His Soul Shaker runs on 18-inch alloy wheels and features a unique houndstooth interior trim. It is also equipped with a small LCD screen positioned in the rear view mirror that turns on when the shifter’s moved to reverse mode. From my Soul test-drive experience, this is a very useful part of equipment that every car should have applied.

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Kia Forte Koup press conference held in South Korea. US Forte Koup sales to commence in August 2009. Available on all major global markets, except of Western Europe.

During the last few days, Kia has been stepping it’s press and media activities at different continents across the world with important new model presentations taking place in the USA and South Korea.

Our friends at Kia Motors America have been occupied with the official press & media unveiling of the 2010 Forte sedan over the past few days. A large group of American journalists has been invited to Seattle to meet the stunning Spectra successor in-person and take it for a spin (read: 250 mile road trip).

While Americans have been having fun experiencing the all-new Forte sedan, their Asian colleagues have had an opportunity to take the first look at Forte based two-door sporty coupe. Dubbed Forte Koup, the production-ready two-door Kia coupe has been shown to Korean media during the official press conference today.

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Official Kia Forte website updated with additional information and several new images. Base US-spec Kia Forte starts at $13.695. 

Kia Motors America has updated it’s official website with more details on it’s all-new 2010 Forte sedan. Since many of us have been anticipating Kia to release more information on it’s all-new Forte sedan, these updates are very welcome and come in line with the official Forte press introduction.

The US official press introduction is held in Seatle and will last from June 8th to 13th. Major US automotive media will be heading to Seatle to gather detailed information on the car, and more importantly get behind the wheel of the 2010 Kia Forte sedan. As a mather of fact, right now, there’s a “wave one” going one, with the first group of journalists taking the streets of Seatle to fully experience what 2010 Kia Forte sedan has to offer.

2010 Kia Forte price

Official pricing for the 2010 Kia Forte has not been officially released yet, but thanks to our dear friend and very enthusiastic Kia fan we can now reveal the accurate US-spec Forte pricing information. Thanks for the pricing info, Greg!

In addition to offering attractive exterior styling, up-to-date mechanics and great driving dynamics, Kia Forte also surprises with a very competitive pricing, which should make it even more tempting to buy. 

As you can see below, base Kia Forte LX, equipped with 5-speed manual transmission and 156-horsepower four-cylinder engine starts at a very affordable $13.695. Base price for the Forte EX starts at $15.795. Forte SX with more potent 2.4L Theta II engine starts at $17.195 (manual transmission) and tops off at $18.195 for the model equipped with 5-speed automatic transmission.

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The 2010 Forte sedan released in South Korea, Korean-spec Forte model gets new engine, minor technical and equipment enhancements! 

Kia announced it has released a 2010 model year Forte compact sedan at it’s home Korean market. As of now, the Forte has only been available with 1.6L four-cylinder diesel and gasoline engines (South Korean market), but from now on, the customers will also be able to choose from a more potent 2.0L gasoline engine, generating 156 horsepower and 19.8 Nm of torque.

The 2.0L Theta engine features a Continuously Variable Valve Timing (CVVT) and multi-port electronic fuel injection, enabling the engine to provide greater performance and fuel economy. According to Kia’s statement, it’s new gasoline engine provides a class leading performance and fuel economy numbers!

When equipped with 4-speed automatic transmission, the 2.0L engine achieves 25 mpg in the city and 34 mpg when highway driving (NOTE: 4-speed automatic is the only automatic transmission available in South Korean market, while in the States, Forte will also be available with 5-speed automatic).

In addition to the all-new, 2.0L four-cylinder engine, the 2010 Forte also benefits from suspension and steering enhancements resulting in improved driving and ride dynamics.

The 2010 model year KDM Forte also receives a host of equipment and trimming upgrades, as well as some technical enhancements. Interior of the 2010 Forte now more techno-look with steering wheel, doors and dashboard receiving metallic interior accents. The 2010 Forte equipment upgrades include a start-stop push button and a backup camera connected to the rear view mirror.

Price for the 2010 Korean-spec Kia Forte, equipped with the 2.0L Theta engine, starts at 17.49 million Won and rises to 18.89 million Won for the more generously equipped models. Base Forte model, equipped with 1.6L engine and 4-speed automatic tranny costs around 13 million Won. [Source: Kia Korea]

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After the pompous official unveiling, the upcoming Kia Forte LPI hybrid has been caught out in the open. Kia first introduced the Forte hybrid car at the 2009 Seoul Auto Show earlier this year and at the same time, the company also introduced it’s new eco-friendly sub-brand, called Eco-Dynamics.

The Eco Dynamics brand will find it’s place on new Kia vehicles with environmentally-pleasant technologies. Those include cars and crossovers equipped with ISG (Idle Stop and Go) systems, hybrid electric powertrains and fuel cell stacks. First to bear the Eco Dynamics logo will be the 2010 Kia Forte LPI hybrid.

Kia’s first ever mass produced hybrid car will be powered by a mild-hybrid system consisting of 1.6L LPI (Liquefied Petroleum Injected) Gamma engine - producing a crop of 114-horsepower – and electric motor that generates additional 20 horsepower. Mated to the CVT transmission, the Forte LPI hybrid will average an estimated fuel economy of 4.7L/100km. 

On the outside, the Forte LPI hybrid differentiates itself from it’s non-hybrid variant with radically redesigned front and rear fascias. In front, Forte hybrid features a slightly redesigned Kia corporate grille and a bumper with attractive fog lights design, while at rear, there are new LED technology equipped tail-lights, lip spoiler and a revamped rear bumper. Inside the Forte hybrid features a navigation display and a Super Vision instrument cluster for hybrid system data. 

According to Kia, the Forte hybrid LPI will be the first hybrid car in the world to use a Lithium Polymer battery pack, which will be supplied by Korean LG Chem, the same company charged with supply the battery pack for the upcoming Chevy Volt. The Kia Forte LPI hybrid electric vehicle is scheduled to go on sale in South Korean market in August this year.  

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Kia Soul tops the May 2009 sales charts in the econo “box car” segment. Beats Scion xB by more than 1.500 units!

Kia’s May 2009 sales report revealed the Soul has had it’s best sales month since it’s February arrival. The model has seen it’s sales topping 3.855 units, up 19.4 percent over the month earlier when 3.228 Souls were sold.

Impressive initial Soul sales is good news, but what’s even more exciting is the fact that Kia Soul outperformed both of it’s main rivals in the US market. As of the end of April, Kia Soul has been competing to win over the customers only against Scion xB, but last month, the competition has been intensified with Japanese Nissan putting it’s all new, 2010 Cube crossover to the battle.  

With sales of 3.855 units last month, the Soul has conquered the No. 1 spot in the econo “box-car” category beating the Scion xB in the second place and Nissan’s Cube in third by more than 1.500 units. Scion has sold 2.216 units of it’s boxy xB while Nissan sold 1.745 units of Cube.

When we look at the year-to-date sales numbers, the xB remains to be the best selling “boxy car” in the US market, but it’s sales in the first five months of fiscal year have fallen from 21.241 units to 9.697 units. In contrary, the sales of Soul crossover has been on increase (8.363 Souls sold to date) and with such performance, the Soul is expected to top the econo “box car” year-to-date sales charts already at the end of June.

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Exclusive spy shots: 2010 Kia Sportage, codenamed SL, gets caught while undergoing final testing in the suburbs of Kia’s Hwasung manufacturing plant in South Korea! 

Have you seen our first Kia Sportage spy report issued sometime ago? Well, that was a miss and we showed you a prototype of a heavily camouflaged Ssangyong C-200  prototype instead of the 2010 Kia Sportage.

Now, just a couple of months later - in our second attempt, we can finally show you the very first spy shots of the 2010 Kia Sportage. The new Sportage development has come to a stage when Kia engineers need to gather as much information from real-life testing as possible, so they have brought a fleet of Sportage prototypes to Korean streets. As usual, it did not take long and Kia’s future compact crossover got caught in the “wild”.

Compared to the current Sportage the new model will be sportier and more aerodynamic. Although the vehicle is heavily disguised, it’s already apparent that the new Sportage will have a much sleeker shape than the rather ungainly current version. As any other new Kia, the new Sportage will also adopt Kia’s new corporate signature grille, penned by Peter Schreyer. 

Under the hood, the 2010 Kia Sportage is expected to use a range of fuel efficient four-cylinder diesel and gasoline engines, while a well known 2.7 V6 is going to be discontinued. Base power will likely come from the 2.0L Theta II gasoline engine currently found on the all-new Forte sedan. There will also be a 2.4L gasoline powerplant and a range topping 2.0L R-diesel engine, developed in conjunction with Hyundai.

Developed over the period of 42 months, the R-diesel engine comes available in two sizes, as a 2.0L and 2.2L engine. The smaller one churns out 184 horsepower and will also be used to propel the 2010 Hyundai Tucson, while the larger one generates a class-leading 200 hp and is used in the next generation Kia Sorento. Both diesel engines are compliant with Euro5 emission regulations!

Also new to the next generation Kia Sportage will be the all-new 6-speed automatic transmission, which has also been developed together with Hyundai. 

These are only the first spy shots of the 2010 Kia Sportage and no doubt we will see more before it goes on sale. As we learned from a leaked Kia document that reveals the timeline of future Kia models, the next generation Sportage crossover will go on sale in South Korea in February 2010.

Kia releases sales numbers for May 2009; the 2010 Soul crossover posts record high sales after it’s fourth month on the market

Kia Motors America has just released it’s May 2009 sales report. The US arm of the rising Korean car giant (Kia Motors) has announced it has sold 26.060 new cars and trucks in the US market last month. 

Kia’s May 2009 sales performance has been slightly worse when compared to the same month last year. The company experienced a 16 percent drop in new car sales, but still, it managed to fare way better than it’s Japanese rivals such as Honda and Toyota, both posting a 40 percent decrease in sales.

Kia’s top performing vehicle, in terms of monthly sales, has been - once again - the 2009 Spectra sedan. With sales of 7.896 units sold in May 2009, Spectra out-performed the Sportage compact SUV in the second spot. With 4.409 units sold, the Sportage saw it’s sales increased by 21 percent from a year ago and achieving one of it’s best ever sales results since on the market.

Kia Soul posts record-high sales in May 

Launched four months ago, the uniquely styled 2010 Kia Soul urban passenger crossover has achieved a record high sales of 3.855 units in May. The Soul has seen it’s sales increased on a monthly basis ever since it’s official February introduction.

Compared to the previous month (April 2009), Soul’s sales have jumped by more than 19 percent. Since it’s arrival to the US Kia showrooms, 8.363 units have already been sold and the interest on the Soul just keeps growing, so we can expect to see even higher sales numbers in the near future.

Also new on the US market this month was the boxy Nissan Cube, which is considered to be one of the Soul’s main rivals. It’s official sales commenced on May 5th and by the end of the month Nissan dealers moved 1.745 Cubes from their lots.

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2010 Kia cee’d spy shots 

Kia cee’d is expected to receive mid-cycle facelift for the 2010 model year. The mid-life makeover will not only affect the five-door hatchback, which has been just recently spotted at an unknown location in Europe, but also both of it’s sibling models, the cee’d sporty wagon and three-door pro_cee’d.

The mid-cycle upgrades are expected to be minimal but they will include exterior and interior changes as well as some technical improvements. In particular, the 2010 Kia cee’d will receive a slightly reworked and a tad more dramatic front fascia, which will now be more in-line with the latest Kia offerings.

By that, I mean the 2010 Kia cee’d will receive a H-shaped chrome signature grille, known also as a “tiger nose” and a slightly revised head-lights. The front bumper will get larger air-intakes and redesigned fog lamps. At rear, the mid-cycle design upgrades will bring the cee’d a set of new tail-lamps, while some corrections will also be made to the rear bumper and lid. New outside mirrors and refreshed aluminium alloy wheels will be rounding up the exterior upgrades.

At this point it’s not known how far will Kia go with the interior upgrades on the 2010 Kia cee’d, but the car is expected to see some slight cabin lay out modifications as well. The facelifted Kia cee’d is scheduled to make it’s European premiere at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September, while it’s official sales should commence by the end of the year.

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