Kia Motors, the budget Pacific rim car company, revealed the Kia Soul concept car at the
Detroit Motor Show. Designed in Korea and not in Soulville, Tennessee the crossover utility vehicle (CUV) extends the current fashion of SUV vehicles that offer drivers a high driving position and large off-road wheels with bold styling. A wrap-around windscreen, muscular wheelarches and a sloped roofline offer that "athletic" look. Designed to capture the imagination of the active lifestyles among us, a marketing tack currently being explored successfully by Ford and other manufacturers with the so-called crossover SUV.
The car made its debut in the metal at the 2006 motor show in Detroit and builds on design cues from the Kia Mesa concept first introduced at the
same show a year ago. Suicide doors at the rear, a high waistline, chunky features and good ground clearance certainly give off a certain kerb presence that will appeal to a range of customers in this growing market sector. The Kia Soul, if it were to go in to production, offers a budget alternative to models such as the
BMW X3. It will be seen if the Soul gets a good reception in the home of Motown.
Paul Wilkinson - 14 Jan 2006