The U.S. spec Kia Soul is slated to make its debut at the L.A. auto show later this month but someone decided to give us a sneak peek first.
The Soul had its world premier earlier this year after the production version was seen at the Paris auto show in September. The Soul has several engines in its series that come from the successful Golf-challenging C'eed, including a 1.6 liter gasoline and a 1.6 CRDi diesel, both with 126 hp.
But the U.S. version will come solely with a 2.0 gasoline with 142 horses and none of the Newton-meter power of a diesel that can make these compact "lifestyle" vehicles more powerful than they look. U.S. consumers will have the choice of either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission for the U.S. Soul.
Some Canadian customization specs are available according to kia-world.net but no news yet on whether the same options will be available in the U.S.
Kia intends to produce about 136,000 units per year of the Soul at their Gwangju manufacturing plant in South Korea. 50,000 of those are slated for the U.S. market.
The L.A. auto show takes place from November 21st to the 30th.
some might say it looks a little like a scion, okay, but it still shows a lot of personality - more than most cars made in korea. looks funky, youthful and somewhat sporty, all in a rather clever small package.
just a shame americans won't be able to buy it with a smaller displacement engine...
it's really nice to see kia paving their way on the right direction anyway... when the korean folks decided to go upmarket with their two brands (hyundai also), i must admit, i was quite skeptical... now they're playing basically on the same league as the japanese brands, being hyundai the vanilla-flavored copycat of toyota, and kia the sporty korean honda. just rebadge a genesis as a lexus, a forte/cerato as a honda or the future portico as a toyota and it is not at all hard to see it.
i really dig the high mounted tail lights, the strong wheel arches, the kinda mini-ish roof treatment, the stylish and almost rugged headlights, the new kia family face on the grille... well, looks like a winner to me.
kudos to kia!