Designed by Mike Torpey in California, the Kia Soul is one of the most extravagant subcompact crossover SUVs currently available.
North American Debut
Kia Soul’s recognizable appearance was designed by Mike Torpey of Kia’s Design Team in Irvine, California. He made a concept combining a sloping roof line with an overall rectangular shape inspired by wild boars. The concept car debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit; the production model – at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. Some features of the initial concept like rear-hinged doors were excluded, though. The car went on sale for the first time as a 2009 model.
First Generation
The first-generation Kia Soul was a 161.6-in. long subcompact crossover SUV oriented primarily on youth. It was available with a bunch of design options as well as several themed special editions: the Kia Soul Denim, the Kia Soul Dragon, and the Kia Soul Flex. Leaving aside the design, the first-generation Kia Soul was also praised for safety. This generation was in charge till 2013.
2016 Kia Soul © Kia Motors
Second Generation
The second-generation Kia Soul was redesigned by Peter Schreyer in the vein of Kia Track’ster 3-door concept unveiled at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show and went on sale worldwide as a 2014 model. Currently, the vehicle shares its platform with the second-generation Kia Cee’d hatchback.
2016 Kia Soul
This year’s Kia Soul has two versions: standard and EV (which stands for ‘electric vehicle’; it is a fully electric car featuring a standard DC Fast Charge port). The starting MSRP for the first one is $15,800. The EV version is two times more expensive with a price tag starting from $31,950. Kia Motors claim that the EV has a best-in-class EPA-estimated driving range of 93 miles.
