New Kia Soul production model will retain concept´s name
FRANKFURT, Germany - Kia Motors Corporation has confirmed that its all-new production model will retain the spirit and name of the SOUL concept cars shown earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show and the first SOUL concept car which debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
As well as confirming the name, Kia has released the first official photograph of the production car, which will be called the ´Kia Soul´. “Reaction from the media and public to the three SOUL concept cars first unveiled at the Geneva Show in March and shown subsequently at other international events, has been overwhelmingly positive,” enthused Mr Hyoung-Keun Lee, Senior Executive Vice President and COO, International Business Division, Kia Motors Corporation. “This reaction, plus the fact that both physically and emotionally, the SOUL concept cars are so closely related to the new Kia Soul production car, made it a natural choice to retain this evocative name.”
“The SOUL concept cars reveal a whole new ´fun´ side to Kia. They signal that our new Kia Soul production model is poised to defy conventions and offer buyers a ´world of possibilities´ for expressing their personality. This new model will reach out to new groups of consumers, appealing especially to the young and young-at-heart – whatever their age,” added Mr Lee.
The three concept cars – SOUL Burner, SOUL Diva and SOUL Searcher – were created by Kia´s European design team led by Gregory Guillaume, under the guidance of Kia´s Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer. They were developed from the original SOUL concept car designed jointly by Kia´s California and Korea design studios and unveiled in 2006 at Detroit.
Speaking about the choice of name for the original 2006 Detroit concept car, Tom Kearns, chief designer of Kia Motors America commented, “We wanted to inject some life into this car´s design, to give it a soul. And the word ´Soul´ is a homophone for the home city of Kia Motors headquarters, in Korea, so it is a fun play on words.”
