Soul, brother: Kia unveils production Scion fighter

Friday May 23, 2008

Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand will get some competition from Kia when the Korean automaker brings its Soul small car to the United States next spring.

Kia is billing the car as "rebellious" and says it provides a "creative platform" for buyers. The Soul--it will keep the concept name--goes into production in Korea in September, and the production car will make its world debut at the Paris motor show in October.

The car is based on the trio of Soul concepts shown at the Geneva motor show in March. The Geneva concepts were developed from an earlier Soul concept shown at the Detroit show in 2006. The squared-off, compact styling has drawn comparisons to the Land Rover LRX concept.

Kia issued photos of the production car but didn't reveal any mechanical details. The front-driver is believed to be powered by a 2.0 liter four-cylinder engine.