Kia Motors America Showcases The Soul'ster Concept at 2009 North American International Auto Show

Open-Air Concept Heats Up the Show

# Distinctive design portrays style, practicality and efficiency
# Kia Motors America design team delivers another high-style concept

DETROIT, Mich., January 11, 2009 -- Bringing a sunny beach feeling into Cobo Center on a cold day in January, Kia Motors America (KMA) arrives at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit with the Soul'ster open-air concept, a variation of the highly anticipated Soul, arriving at Kia Motors retailers this spring. With young buyers' budgets in mind, the Soul'ster is an efficient front-drive car based on the production model Soul, recently introduced at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.

"Soul'ster delivers something new, intriguing and relevant to today's buyers -- a fun, affordable convertible for active people who like to share good times with friends," said Tom Kearns, chief designer, KMA. "Defying categorization and providing utility and practicality, the Soul'ster exhibits distinctive design cues and satisfies multiple consumer needs."

Stylin' Soul'r Yellow Design

A two-door concept with roadster roots, the brightly colored Soul'r yellow Soul'ster projects a hip industrial look with screw borders, reminiscent of a rivet design found on a fighter jet. The windshield is shortened for a sportier and hunkered down appearance. A two-piece top enables passengers to expose the front and back seating areas independently, using elbow-grease technology. The roll bar serves a dual purpose and includes a place for the slider tracks, while providing protection not found in traditional convertibles.

With a unique face, Soul'ster has a tough but refined character. The toughness is expressed through details like the anodized skid-pad insert, which matches the fender vents, roll bar header and wheels.

Soul'ster's attitude incorporates lighting that shines through with an amber glow under the headlamps. The side vents, side-mirror turn signals, unique LED headlamps, fog and tail lamps incorporate blue shades.

The energetic, distinctive look carries from front to rear with dual chrome exhaust and polished aluminum exhaust tips featuring carbon-fiber interior sleeves. The large 19-inch, five-spoke aluminum alloy wheels perfect the Soul'ster's appearance. Regardless of Soul'ster being viewed from front, back or side, it offers innovative perspectives derived from the original Soul.

Inside Out

Once inside, Soul'ster takes even more progressive variations from Soul beginning with the new four-passenger seating design, a diversion from Soul's five-passenger arrangement, lending spacious versatility for long summer weekends. The surprisingly flexible Soul'ster provides real seating for two in the front with comfortable seating for two more adults in the back. Fold-flat passenger and rear seats combined with ample headroom make this the perfect car for social outings outdoors and on the beach with friends. Making basic features hot, its crank-up windows are a purposefully key interior design element as are the dashboard-integrated audio speakers.

Adding to the edgy design scheme, the non-floor-mounted cantilevered seats project the illusion of being suspended in space when viewed from the side allowing for increased rear legroom. Storage compartments below each of the fold-flat rear seats, offer room for myriad cargo needs. In addition to the spacious cargo area, dual storage compartments also can be found in the rear and underneath the cargo hold area.

All Revved Up

With young buyers in mind, Soul'ster offers an agile, smooth and spirited ride. As with its Soul cousin, Soul'ster's can be made available with a myriad of engine choices depending upon each market's needs. A 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine is mated to a five-speed manual transmission, which produces approximately 120 horsepower. For those looking for a little more power, a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine is available with either the five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission, producing approximately 140 horsepower. Fuel economy for both engines is estimated at 30 or more miles per gallon. Other markets might choose the 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine producing 124 horsepower or a 1.6-liter turbodiesel.

2009 Product Line

Kia Motors America offers a dynamic and diverse product line of 11 vehicles to meet the needs of all lifestyles. The 2009 vehicle line features the functional Rondo CUV and award-winning Sedona minivan along with a wide variety of popular passenger cars, including the refined Amanti full size sedan, purposeful Optima mid size sedan, versatile and compact Spectra and Spectra5, and sporty yet fuel efficient Rio and Rio5 subcompacts. The vehicle line also features the all-new and affordably luxurious Borrego, rugged Sorento and value-packed Sportage SUVs. The Soul will further complement the lineup when it arrives in dealerships this spring.

About Kia Motors America

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 2008, KMA recorded its 14th consecutive year of increased U.S. marketshare. Kia Motors subscribes to a philosophy of building high value, high quality, safe and dynamic vehicles. Kia Motors prides itself on producing vehicles that are exciting and enabling and evoke the Kia tagline "The Power to Surprise."

Revealed! 2010 Kia Forte Sedan images hit the Web

Well, it's official: Kia's replacement for the aging Spectra model will be called the Forte when it hits U.S. showrooms next summer as a sedan and coupe.

Incorporating much of its edgier design language was critical to Kia Forte lead designer Peter Schreyer, who is best known for his penning of the first generation Audi TT and Volkswagen Beetle. The car's styling evokes many of the same "corporate" elements implemented on the Kia Koup and Kee Concepts such as the distinct front grille and sweeping headlight configuration.

During the automaker's opening of an all-new design center in Southern California, Kia officials stated its new model was specifically targeted to attract younger, hipper buyers attuned to sharper auto designs. Head of Hyundai-Kia R&D Lee Hyun-soon also mentioned that the hatchback version of the car will not be sold stateside, anticipating "the coupe will sell better than the hatchback." European customers will have the opportunity to buy a three-door hatchback version of the Forte under the cee'd moniker.

Powering both two and four-door versions will initially be a 1.6-liter four-cylinder, with a bigger 2.0-liter unit coming later during its debut year. Korean customers will get first dibs on the new sedan August 22, followed a few months later by the coupe. The Forte is slated to hit North America by mid-2009.

Source: TheCarBlogger via Kia

Kia bares it's Soul - production car keeps original concept name

Kia Motors has confirmed its all-new segment-busting car will retain the name and spirit of the concept from which it evolved -- Soul.

First seen as the SOUL concept car at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, a trio of concept developments then appeared at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show which gave a strong indication to the many characters the new Kia could take on.

Mr Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO, International Business Division, Kia Motors Corporation, said; 'Reaction from the media and public to the three SOUL concept cars seen at the Geneva Show in March and shown subsequently at other international events, has been overwhelmingly positive. This reaction, plus the fact that both physically and emotionally, the SOUL concept cars are so closely related to the new Kia Soul production car, made it a natural choice to retain this evocative name.'

The three Geneva concept cars - SOUL Burner, SOUL Diva and SOUL Searcher - were created by Kia's European design team led by Gregory Guillaume, with input from Kia's Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer. The original SOUL concept was designed jointly by Kia's Californian and Korean design studios.

Speaking about the choice of name for the original 2006 Detroit concept car, Tom Kearns, Chief Designer of Kia Motors America, said; 'We wanted to inject some life into this car's design, to give it a soul. And the word 'Soul' is a homophone for the home city of Kia Motors headquarters, in Korea, so it is a fun play on words.'

Peter Schreyer added; 'The name SOUL accurately reflects how people will be able to 'express their spirit - their psyche' with this new product. Through a variety of options, accessories and colours, they will be able to personalise their Kia Soul and create a sense of individuality, making their new car a true reflection of their personality.'

Looking to the 2008 Paris Motor Show, Gregory Guillaume said; 'Because the new Kia Soul is not a replacement for an existing vehicle and is destined to play a unique role within the Kia global line-up, it can be a bit of a rebel. The trio of Geneva concepts were 'appetisers' for the new model introduction at Paris, and you can be certain that the new Kia Soul model will retain the core DNA of the three exciting concepts.'

The Kia Soul defies classification and its design will encourage customers to build an emotional bond with this new car. Production of Soul will begin in Korea in September 2008 with UK cars appearing in early 2009. Kia believes Soul will provide a creative platform for buyers to individualise and match their car to their own personality.

The Kia Soul production car will make its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show in October this year and is expected to go on sale in the UK in early 2009.

Kia to Bring Small Car to U.S.

The Kia Soul concept car, shown, has a new grille. The production version comes to the U.S. in 2009.

Kia Motors Corp. plans to export its new Soul small car to the United States and China in March, says a Kia source.

The five-seater will be produced for the Chinese market at a Kia plant in China in December 2009. The source declined to be identified because he is not authorized to talk about the matter.

Suh Sung-moon, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, also said the Soul is coming to the United States in early 2009.

The car, code-named AM, is the next step, after the Borrego SUV, in Kia's strategy to reshape the brand's exterior design. The Soul concept was shown first in Detroit in January 2006. It was displayed in Geneva in March with a new "tiger nose" grille by Peter Schreyer, Kia's head of design.

Schreyer has said he wants to give Kias a more distinct look. In his corner is Tom Kearns, who came from Cadillac and did the main design work on the Soul.

The Soul was developed with buyers of the Toyota Scion and Honda Fit in mind. The car is expected to get a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive.

Source: AutoWeek