2011 Kia Soul Plus Hatchback 4-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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Kia Hotbots come back out to play with 2014 Forte

Kia is bringing back its so-called "hotbots," the slightly disturbing female robots that traipse about the uncanny valley while hustling the new Forte and "respecting the tech," for three new, humorous animated spots.
The Hotbots first debuted during Kia's latest Super Bowl spot, which followed the debut of the 2014 Forte sedan at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show. Each new spot follows the premise of the two originals, with the hotbots protecting the Forte while the oblivious owner stands by. Take a look at all three ads below, along with the two originals that kicked the series off.

2014 Kia Soul

Rounding Out The Market's Best Box
As a car critic, you can tell a lot about a new car just by looking at a map. That's because more often than not, the geography of where a vehicle is initially launched will tell you a surprising amount about how the automaker feels about its new baby. Manufacturers want their models to be shown in the best light - dynamically and socially - so they put a lot of thought into where they first let members of the media slip behind the wheel. Luxury cars nestle up closely to swank hotels in the globe's trendiest locales, high-performance cars are let loose on breathtaking mountain roads with adjacent racetracks, and so on. It all makes for a tough life, as you can imagine.
So consider it telling that when Kia first launched the Soul way back in 2009, it did so in Miami. Trendy? Check. Billiard-table level, arrow-straight smooth roads? Frequently snarled with traffic? Check and check. You see, good as it was, the original Soul wasn't a particularly thrilling driver. Competent, sure, but its simplistic suspension, modest power and upright dimensions didn't exactly afford it entertaining driving dynamics. Which is exactly why Kia launched it in an environment utterly devoid of potholes and curves (save those conjured by the area's robust plastic surgery community), instead choosing a city loaded down with pedestrians and slow-moving motorists.

Kia KX3 crossover concept leaked

Despite all the focus on the 2014 Los Angeles Auto Show, there's another increasingly important event happening on the other side of the planet. The Guangzho Motor Show is yet another expression of China's growing automotive might. Not only does the show boast a concurrent introduction with the LA Auto Show, in the form of the Mercedes-Maybach S600, but it has at least one exclusive item, with the Kia KX3 Concept.
Looking like a Soul mixed with a Sportage, the KX3 heralds the arrival of a production model based on the Hyundai ix35, known here in the US as the Hyundai Tucson. Whether that model will make Stateside, though, is another story.
If it does, World Car Fans claims it will be with either a 2.0-liter four-cylinder or a 1.6-liter turbocharged four, both of which should be familiar to Hyundai/Kia shoppers. While WCF says there will be a manual-transmission option, we shouldn't count on any gearbox beyond a dual-clutch automatic.