Soul Is Kia’s Most Popular Export Model

The box-like shaped Kia Soul has just overtaken the Kia Rio as Kia’s most popular export model, reports Korea Herald, citing industry data.

reports Korea Herald.

In the first 10 months of 2015, Kia Motors sold 177,457 units of the Soul. In comparison, the company sold 176,979 units of the Kia Rio over the same period last year.

High demand from American consumers was responsible for the Soul’s popularity, buying over 70 percent of all Soul models sold worldwide. Between January to October 2015, a total of 124,929 units of the Soul were sold in the US.

We wonder how much of the Soul’s success was due to Kia Motors America’s very successful ‘Party Rock Anthem’ TV commercial, aired in 2012.

Globally, the Soul is available with three engine options – a U2 1.6-litre CRDi turbo diesel, Gamma 1.6-litre MPI petrol, and Nu 2.0-litre MPI petrol. The engines are paired to either a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, 6-speed torque converter automatic or a 6-speed manual.

Many years ago, the Naza Kia Malaysia had considered the Soul for the Malaysian market. A heavily tinted (it was a left-hand drive model) display car was also exhibited at several road shows but the model was eventually dropped from the company’s plans as market research showed that Malaysian consumers are not ready for boxy looking cars yet.

Fast forward to 2015, what do you think? Are you interested in a box shaped car like the Soul?