Kia says it will introduce a production version of the Kia Soul crossover concept vehicle in 2008 as a 2009 year model. The Kia Soul crossover concept was first presented to the public last year at the Detroit Motor Show. The small front-wheel drive five-seater with a 254cm wheelbase featured a 2.0 litre four cylinder engine mated to a 5-speed transmission with manual shifting functions.
The company decided on the name Kia Soul for the small crossover for two reasons: it was first introduced in Detroit, the home of Motown soul music; and the company wanted to play on its Korean heritage (South Korea’s capital is Seoul). How punny of them. Look after the jump for more photos of the Kia Soul crossover concept.
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Weird design but loves the suicide doors
If you compare the size of the seats to the body, this thing is BIG.
Almost looked like a masculined MINI.
As most Korean cars maker have, this is another daring design that is a bit more pleasant to the eyes than the Stavic.
Just hope that the material used to build this car is as good as its looks.
Somehow, the Korean made engine is not that impressive.
Oh, the Sgporean would love it… its a KIAsoul4 car !!!!
(kia-su and see car…) hm..
Love it!
Looks ugly… seems a bit cramp and limited headroom for the backseat..
The roofline looks coupe-ish (higher in front, lower at the rear). I think it would be interesting to see how they incorporate the swivelling dashboard table thingy in the production version. The top cargo bars loosely resemble spoilers, and the door windows are frameless; just like most sportcars, this is an interesting design from Kia
i wonder how it will fare in a car test…especially if kena langgar from the middle…since there is no support in between the front and back doors…
i love all these mini 4wd, 3 doors RAV4, Toyota Rush and now this Kia Soul. would not call it Kia Soul though sounds like Kiasu, just Soul would be good…. now where's my wish list???
Looks like a Toyota BBOX/SCION on steroids.
yup…a modified jack-up toyota BB
yeah it looks like a toyota Scion. Less cohesive design as well. It might have used a few interesting designs to seperate from the pact. But then there are things people choose not to design. The interior also doesn't light my fire.
myvi butt, passo taillight
Looks like something designed by CalTech. Looks different enough to be cool I say!
Fugly…..
back view look like MYVi
Kia trying to build a competitor to the Skoda Yeti?
Looks pretty good for a kia. But i wonder how different the production model will be? They always tone it down. Probably lose the big wheels and knoby tires, and im guessing the interior will be nothing like this one shown.
some parts look good, some looks bad