Fans and followers of the Kia brand have been waiting with eager anticipation for news regarding the release of the 2012 Kia Soul.
That big news came today, and it’s all good; Kia Motors America announced that the new version of the Soul will be released at the best in class price of $13.900, the Soul A/T at $15.700, and the top of the range Soul! (exclaim) starting at under $20.000.
That’s a fantastic price for a vehicle that is delivering on the promise of better fuel economy and more power.
The all-new Kia Soul 2012 Model Year has amped up the horsepower on both the 1.6L (138hp, an increase of 16) and 2.0L (now 164hp, an increase of 22), while also increasing fuel efficiency, thanks in large part to Kia‘s new six-speed automatic transmission and Idle Stop and Go system, to 28 mpg in the city and 35 highway, a huge selling point considering the high prices at the pump.
The updates are not just restricted to performance; the overall design has been tweaked to include a wider looking stance, as well as new headlamps, taillights, side mirrors and wheels.
Combined, the new features give the Soul a more modern, trendy look without compromising the fun aspect that made the car a huge sales success in the first place.
The interior also gets an upgrade with the overall ride promising to be quieter courtesy of a thicker insulation panel in the dash.
If noise is what you are looking for, then that can be attained by blasting your tunes in the voice-controlled UVO infotainment system, available on the top spec models.
Kia has been setting sales records each and every month since the beginning of the year, and with the release of the new Soul at such an affordable price, you would have to believe that trend will continure for the remainder of 2011.
Them adding the 6 spd auto & horsepower bump is great news, price can’t be beat either.
Now all they need to do is bring their “flex” version to the U.S. I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to give us the option. We’re willing to pay for it! Hell, if it doesn’t cost more than a few hundred dollars, they could use volume pricing to include it in all their cars and not have to have multiple versions.
I would prefer the diesel option myself. As far at changing to flex version for USA is not as easy as it seems; they would have to to internal testing, EPA recertification, etc. I was a vendor for Subaru and they were working for serveral years to get this through to fruition. My wife drives a Dodge Minivan and it is flex fuel and due to the 10-15% hit on MPG, it is very rare that the price spread between E85 and unleaded justifies this. Flex fuel’s major advantage is to make the auto manufactures commitment to fuel efficency seem more real via the formulas for CAFE.
I agree with INDIANA BOB; I would love a good diesel. How about the Euro spec 2.2 194hp @ 311 lb ft torque & AWD. Now that would be a ride. Performance,torque and superior MPG. Plus that unbeatable 10 yr/ 100,000 warranty. Kia currently have 2 diesels (maybe more) in Europe. The 2.2 CRDI and a smaller 1.6 CRDI. But I feel we need more hp & torque here than the 1.6 CRDI. KIA bring ’em on.
I very much doubt the Soul will ever get AWD. Mainly because the platform the Soul is built on is not capable of supporting it. Another reason? The market the Soul mainly appeals to cares more about MPG than AWD. The sales numbers for an AWD Soul would be so low that it wouldn’t justify the enormous cost to modify the platform that much. Same reason Kia never put AWD in the Rondo, as explained by Kia. The difference is, the Soul’s market cares even less about AWD than the Rondo’s market did.
Greg, next generation Soul will get AWD…
I will believe it when I see it. What’s up with the forums?
We received a base model of one yesterday. The differences in the vehicle cosmetically aren’t major, but if you are familiar with the 2010 or 2011 Soul you will probably spot them. I’m eager to see the higher trims to see what the LEDs look like. Oh, it also appears the fender turn signal indicators are standard on these (base model at least).
OK, now I’m frustrated. They have the 2012 Soul on Kia.com now and it appears (based on their listed information) that the ONLY way to get a manual transmission on the 2012 Soul is on the Base trim. That’s it! No way to get the + or ! with a manual transmission. I guess I’ll have to hope they change this limitation…
Do you know the prices for Québec city, province of Québec,Canada ?
My only regret in regard to the Soul is the unusually high window line. I’m a guy who likes to hang his elbow out the window in nice weather. The Soul window sill line is about 6 inches too high to allow for that long ingrained personal preference and habit. What a shame.
i am looking for a kia 2011 alien green, or date when the kia 2012 will be out in the market and a price range, if you can givme the information
thank you
jessica hardin
Hate to be, “Off Topic” but when the hell is KMA going to release prices, option packages, and color (interior & exterior) of its upcoming 2012 Kia Rio5? When they roll of the car carriers at the Kia Dealerships?
my husband bought a kia rio in 2001 he had 430,000kms his daughter still drives it
he definitlely was happy when he bought his 2011 kia forte this year and i,m ready to buy a soul
we adamently promote kia products to family and friends
thanks kia
you philip obviously haven;t checked the internet brown saddle is an amazing new colour try typing in
kia soul 2012
i bought a soul plus and didn’t know about the soul exclamation til days after, i wish they would tell you about the different types of soul’s out there before making you buy one, now i can’t return it! bahhhhh
Concerning the Soul…I’m almost ready to start car searching test drives…2 questions…Is there a big difference in acceleration and highway performance between the 1.6 and 2.o engines(with auto)? And, is there any difference between ride and handling with 18″ tires as compared to small wheels?
Thanks for any input.