Set to retire on the conclusion of the 2025 mannequin yr, over 1.5 million Kia Souls have been offered within the U.S. since 2009
From a humble starting as a boxy idea automobile in Kia’s U.S. design studio and persevering with by way of 16 years of ardour, the enjoyable and funky Kia Soul city runabout has all the time stood out from the group. As what most take into account the primary manufacturing automobile in Kia’s design-led and historic transformation, the Soul has attracted new prospects to the model by projecting the form of individuality and optimism that appeals to each the younger and the young-at-heart. And with Kia’s general U.S. gross sales practically tripling throughout the Soul’s lifetime, its influence merely can’t be overstated.
“The Soul was one of many cornerstones in Kia gaining a foothold in america and this one-of-a-kind automobile – and the advertising supporting it – helped Kia transfer to the place it resides in the present day,” stated Eric Watson, Vice President, Gross sales, Kia America. “Kia is steadily progressing in direction of its third consecutive annual gross sales file and all-time excessive market share, and that’s attainable due to the early success carved out by the Soul. We’re happy with the legacy Soul will depart behind because it exits our lineup, however equally excited for the way forward for Kia’s expansive and award-winning utility automobile lineup.”
“Boar with a backpack”
Within the mid-2000s, Kia got down to design a worldwide automobile that stood out from the established order of compact hatchbacks. SUVs had been persevering with their climb in direction of market dominance on the time, and so it was determined that this new automobile would mix the nimble effectivity of a small automobile with the flexibility and proportions of an SUV. Whereas watching a nature documentary on the life of untamed boars, the group at Kia Design Middle America was impressed by the thought of a “boar carrying a backpack” given this animal’s energy and angle relative to its measurement and translated that concept right into a mechanical type. All too typically, throughout the transition from idea to manufacturing, a automobile loses a few of its celebrated spirit and edge. Not so for the Soul, because the 2006 manufacturing mannequin was extremely true to the unique idea.
Music-loving ham-stars
Launched with the tagline “A New Technique to Roll,” the extremely customizable Soul supplied an audio system that featured in-speaker lighting to assist illuminate the beat. As an automaker seeking to make a mark by launching a clearly completely different kind of compact automobile, Kia wanted a advertising marketing campaign that made an identical and powerful influence. Enter a forged of hamsters with ears for hip music and paws on the heartbeat of popular culture.
Tapping into the ability of music, dance, and positivity, the “Ham-stars” cruised to playlists starting from Black Sheep’s traditional hip-hop monitor “The Selection Is Yours,” LMFAO’s smash hit “Occasion Rock Anthem,” to Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades.” The hamsters rapidly grew to become promoting legends, with the Madison Avenue Promoting Stroll of Fame naming them the first-ever “Rookie of the Yr.”
Inspiring new concepts
Kia took the wraps off numerous Soul-based idea automobiles by way of the years together with the 2009 Soul’ster, an sudden pickup/utility variant of the Soul. One other standout idea was the 2012 Observe’ster with its turbocharged 250-horsepower engine, two-doors, and AWD system that took the thought of “sizzling hatch” to a different degree. The Observe’ster featured numerous design cues that will make their method into the second-generation Soul in 2014.
Observe gave strategy to path on the Chicago Auto Present in 2015, with the debut of the Path’ster idea. A extra rugged interpretation of the Soul, it featured an e-AWD system to place ample energy to all 4 wheels. Because of the Soul’s general recognition, buyer demand for brand new variations continued to develop so a stronger powertrain debuted within the Soul Turbo in 2017. Whereas all-wheel drive wouldn’t be supplied within the Soul, demand for an all-wheel-drive Kia subcompact SUV led to the event of the Kia Seltos. Extra than simply AWD, the Seltos is an evolution of the Kia CUV that provides extra cargo room behind the rear seats and elevated floor clearance than the Soul. The Seltos additionally gives a spirited turbocharged engine and useful Kia ADAS options.
All through its life, the Soul was typically on the core of Kia’s many memorable SEMA Present shows, with custom-made creations starting from a cell DJ sales space and rolling music memorabilia museum to an all-electric reimagining of a traditional ice cream truck.
An unbelievable success story
In 2018, Kia introduced that multiple million Souls had been bought by passionate homeowners forward of the introduction of the third-and-final technology, which debuted in 2019 as a 2020 mannequin. This gen-3 Soul was extra refined than ever but clearly additionally embraced the enjoyable and funky spirit that made this machine such a gross sales success all through the years. The truth is, whereas the Soul was typically marketed in direction of youthful patrons, it additionally attracted an older demographic that Kia rapidly realized had been typically folks of the identical spirit…simply separated by age.
A chapter closes
The Soul is anticipated to finish manufacturing in October, and with just some thousand items remaining at sellers across the US. These are the final examples of Kia’s spirited runabout with a giant persona, on a regular basis performance and effectivity.
Awards and Accolades:
2009 “Finest Wager” Distinction by The Automotive Ebook
2009 Ward’s AutoWorld “Inside of the Yr” checklist — “Grooviest Inside”
2009 Kelley Blue Ebook “Coolest New Automobiles Below $18,000”
2009 Kelley Blue Ebook “Prime 10 Again-to-Faculty Automobiles”
2009 Purple Dot Design Award (Product Design)
2010 Automobiles.com “Finest Hatchback of 2010”
2010 TIME “Most Thrilling Automobiles of 2010”
2010 Fashionable Mechanics Automotive Excellence Award
2010 IIHS Prime Security Choose
2011 Effie Awards — Gold Effie (North America) for Soul hamster marketing campaign (“This or That”)
2011 Nielsen Automotive Promoting Awards — Automotive Advert of the Yr (Hamsters)
2012 J.D. Energy Preliminary High quality Examine — Highest Ranked in Phase
2012 Kelley Blue Ebook — “Prime 10 Again-to-Faculty Automobiles” (No. 1)
2012 Kelley Blue Ebook — “Prime 10 Tailgating Automobiles”
2013 J.D. Energy Preliminary High quality Examine — Phase chief (repeat)
2013 Kelley Blue Ebook — “10 Coolest Automobiles Below $18,000”
2014 WardsAuto “10 Finest Interiors”
2014 Purple Dot Design Award (Product Design)
2014 iF Product Design Award
2014 Worldwide Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) — Bronze (Transportation)
2014 Clio Awards — Silver (Music: Partnerships/Collaborations) “Completely Reworked”
2015 Purple Dot Design Award — Soul EV
2015 GOOD DESIGN Award — Soul EV
2017 IIHS Prime Security Choose+ (with particular headlights & non-compulsory entrance crash prevention)
2017 U.S. Information & World Report — “Finest Automobiles for the Cash” (Compact Automotive)
2017 Dad and mom Journal & Edmunds — Finest Household Automobiles (“Finest Finances Car”)
2018 (2019 MY) Client Information Automotive — Finest Purchase
2019 Kelley Blue Ebook — 5-Yr Price to Personal Award (Compact Automotive)
2019 Kelley Blue Ebook — “10 Coolest New Automobiles Below $20,000” (No. 1)
2019 Kelley Blue Ebook — “10 Finest Again-to-Faculty Automobiles”
2020 World Automotive Awards — World City Automotive (Soul EV)
2021 IIHS Prime Security Choose (with particular headlights/optioned AEB)
2022 IIHS Prime Security Choose (with choices)
2023 Kelley Blue Ebook — Finest Automobiles for Faculty College students (New Automobiles Below $25,000)
SOURCE: Kia
