LA 2008: Kia's Soul-ful debut
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/la-auto-show/" rel="tag">LA Auto Show</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/crossovers-cuvs/" rel="tag">Crossovers/CUVs</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/kia/" rel="tag">Kia</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-kia-soul-live-debut/1175107/"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/kia_soul_la_live_10_450op .jpg" /></a><br />
<div align="center"><em><stron g><small>Click above for more live shots of the Kia Soul in LA</small></strong></em><br /></div>
<br />Kia put on quite a show today, prancing out a slew of new Souls at the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/la-auto-show/">LA Auto Show</a>. Expected to drop as an early 2010 model in late '09, the new boxy Soul will go head-to-head with the equally-new <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/19/la-2008-nissan-unleashes-the-slightly-less-cube-y-cube/">Nissan Cube</a> for the affections of ex-xB buyers here in the States. While the Cube really goes after the square-edged look, Kia has softened the Soul. The box's rising beltline starts lower in the front and gradually sweeps skyward at the rear, adding a unique look to the little crossover. A standard 1.6L four banger pushes roughly 120 horses through a five-speed manual tranny and an optional 2.0L unit with about 140 horsepower can be mated with either the stick or a four-speed automatic on uplevel models. Each should exceed 30 mpg on the highway.<br /><br />The Korean automaker promises that there will be an abundant number of customization possibilities for its new Soul and there will be three separate Soul models in addition to the base kit, including the Soul+, Soul! (exclaim) and Soul <em>sport</em>. We think that they may be trying a bit too hard to be young and hip with these odd model designations, but standard auxiliary and USB input jacks in the center console with full iPod control through the steering wheel audio controls strike us as an excellent idea for its target demographic. Details on what each model gets are in the press release pasted after the break. <br /><br /><div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-kia-soul-live-debut/">LA 2008: Kia Soul Live Debut</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-kia-soul-live-debut/1175105/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/kia_soul_la_live_01_thumb nail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-kia-soul-live-debut/1175107/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/kia_soul_la_live_10_thumb nail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-kia-soul-live-debut/1175119/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/kia_soul_la_live_22_thumb nail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-kia-soul-live-debut/1175134/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/kia_soul_la_live_23_thumb nail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-kia-soul-live-debut/1175122/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/kia_soul_la_live_02_thumb nail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /><div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-kia-soul/">2010 Kia Soul</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-kia-soul/1175205/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/2010-soul-pt-ext-01_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-kia-soul/1175224/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/2010-soul-pt-ext-26_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-kia-soul/1175258/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/2010-soul-pt-int-02_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-kia-soul/1175248/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/2010-soul-pt-int-21_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2010-kia-soul/1175264/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/11/2010-soul-pt-ext-12_thumbnail.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br /><strong><small>Live Photos Copyright (C)2008 Jeremy Korzeniewski / Weblogs, Inc.</small></strong><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/20/la-2008-kias-soul-ful-debut/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>LA 2008: Kia's Soul-ful debut</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/20/la-2008-kias-soul-ful-debut/">LA 2008: Kia's Soul-ful debut</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:58:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/20/la-2008-kias-soul-ful-debut/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/1378439/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2008/11/20/la-2008-kias-soul-ful-debut/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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