Variations on a Theme

Here at LotPro.com, we’ve been looking forward to the production version of the new Kia that will go on sale in the United States sometime next spring. Based on the original Soul concept car that was designed in California at the Kia Design Center, Kia’s newest vehicle is already being built at its Gwangju factory. In addition to the world premiere of the Soul, Mondial de l’Automobile will play host to the unveiling of seven distinctly different interpretations of the Kia Soul theme.

Much like Kia did for the concept car in Geneva with the Soul Searcher, Soul Diva and Soul Burner variations, the seven (count ‘em) versions of the Soul on display in Paris will give show goers a glimpse of how Kia’s newest model can be customized by owners to reflect their own personal tastes. In this respect, Kia hopes to attract young buyers using many of the same marketing and customizing techniques that Toyota used when launching its Scion brand.

In Europe, where it will go on sale shortly, the new Soul will have either a 1.6 liter gasoline engine or a 1.6 liter diesel variant. Both engines will come with a five-speed manual transmission, while an automatic transmission will be an option only on diesel-equipped models. Once it reaches our shores, however, U.S. buyers will have no choice – only a 142 horsepower 2.0 liter gasoline engine will be offered.

Green, green, it’s green they say

With apologies to the New Christy Minstrels, in addition to the premier of the Soul, Kia will also be displaying four very eco-friendly vehicles. Included in the mix are two gasoline-electric hybrid concepts, one based on the Soul and another derived from the Cee’d (available everywhere else, it seems, but in the U.S.). Kia will also be showing an electric fuel cell version of the Sportage, and a version of the Cee’d equipped with a stop-start system (that allows the engine to shut down for periods when the vehicle isn’t moving, such as at stoplights and when stopped in traffic).

Kia Cee’d Hybrid

In what has become almost a monthly mantra, Korea-based Kia Motors reports another record-setting month along with solid year-over-year sales gains.

(SEOUL) August 11, 2008 – Kia Motors Corporation announced today that its global sales (export sales, domestic sales and sales from overseas plants) of passenger cars, recreation vehicles (RVs) and commercial vehicles in July 2008 recorded 122,230, representing a 24.1% year-on-year increase.

By region, Kia posted large, year-on-year sales increases in China (11,110 units, a 114.1% year-on-year increase), Korea (27,514 units, a 37.5% year-on-year increase) and general markets (22,973 units, a 37.3% year-on-year increase).  Sales increases were also significant in Europe and North America where 28,670 (8.4% year-on-year increase) and 31,963 (6.2% year-on-year increase) Kia vehicles were sold in July, respectively.

Cumulatively, through the first seven months of 2008, Kia’s global sales increased by 16.9% year-on-year and reached 839,384 units. China (90,863 units sold) and general markets (142,402 units sold) have experienced the largest gains of 42.7%, and 33.3%, respectively. Cumulative year-on-year sales increases have also been experienced in all other sales regions: Korea (18.2% gain with 181,544 units sold); Europe (12.4% gain with 216,332 units sold); and North America (3.5% gain with 208,243 units sold).

Kia Spectra5

So far in 2008, Kia’s best selling model in overseas markets has been the C-segment Cerato (known as ‘Spectra’ in some markets) with 124,058 units sold.   It is followed by a close group of three vehicles: the B-segment Rio at 94,340, the C-segment cee’d at 91,857 and Kia’s Sportage compact SUV at 87,547.  Meanwhile the A-segment Picanto continues to perform well with 61,498 units sold.

Kia Rio

Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President, International Business Division, said, “As we enter the second half of 2008, we continue to experience strong sales growth across all markets, and we have achieved consistently high and significant year-on-year gains in China and general markets in particular. These results represent great performance by our sales team, especially given the difficult industry environment.”

Editor’s notes:
* Global sales figures are based upon CBU export sales and sales from overseas and Korean production plants
** Includes figures from Western and Eastern European markets
***General markets includes the regions of Central and South America, Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa

Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) — a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart — was founded in 1944 and is Korea’s oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world’s premier automotive brands. More than 1.4 million vehicles a year are produced in 14 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 165 countries. Kia today has over 40,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of almost US$17 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Tennis Open and an official worldwide sponsor of the Davis Cup. Kia is an official automotive partner of FIFA — the governing body of the FIFA World Cup — as well as a EUROTOP partner of UEFA. Kia Motors Corporation’s brand slogan — “The Power to Surprise” — represents the company’s global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.