2020 Kia Soul Ex on 2040-cars

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Kia wants to keep Stinger fresh with frequent variants

Kia is apparently feeling confident enough in the early sales figures of its new Stinger sedan to be mulling ideas for future variants of its GT-inspired fastback. The brand's North American product planner tells AutoGuide it wants to keep the nameplate's lineup fresh with frequent updates and additions. "The reaction has been phenomenal to (the Stinger)," Orth Hedrick, Kia North America product planner, told AutoGuide. "We're doing great, we have a very high mix of buyers, a lot coming from Optima, so we're looking to see if we can grow that. And I think there might be other opportunities down the road." He added that it was still early in the product's lifecycle and that the brand will wait to amass more data from consumers before building out the Stinger lineup. "We're going to be very aggressive for the lifecycle of this vehicle," Hedrick added, "we're going to be very aggressive with the colors. It's a fashion statement. You have to keep the car going with powertrain variants and other stuff coming down the road." Through March, Kia has sold 3,920 Stingers in the U.S., including 1,555 in March alone and not including the 843 it sold in late 2017. That's a fraction of the 50,645 vehicles Kia sold overall during the month, and it puts Kia on pace to sell nearly 16,000 for the full year. It's hard to independently assess whether that should be seen as a successful mark for a performance sedan that starts at $32,795 for the standard 255-horsepower 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder, much lower than many of the German competitors it's established as benchmarks. Hendrick last year told Wards the Stinger was intended to increase both sales and brand recognition and was aimed squarely at auto enthusiasts. Its U.S. sales are slightly above those of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, which has sold 3,085 through March (this Stinger owners forum thread also offers some interesting guesstimates). And as long as Kia is pleased ... Anyway, if Kia wants to release variants, we're totally cool with that. It's already announced the limited-edition Atlantica, and we're down with more colors and maybe a manual transmission. And while they're at it, why not borrow the 5.0-liter V8 from the Korean version of the K900? Related Video:

2020 Kia Soul teased ahead of L.A. Auto Show debut

We've seen Kia Soul prototypes in spy shots a few times now, and they've all been carefully covered up. This often means that we'll be waiting awhile before the car is revealed, but that's not the case with the Soul. It's coming to the L.A. Auto Show in just a couple of weeks, and Kia released a teaser to announce the reveal. The teaser shows the rear pillar from the side. As expected from the prototypes, the Soul retains its boxy design. It also has the upswept rear windows that create a very thick rear pillar. The new Soul does adopt the popular floating roof design, created in this case by a matte-black plastic piece in which the Soul logo has been embossed. The taillight's overall design is similar to the current model, with it rising vertically along the rear pillar. But it looks as though it may wrap around the top of the roof now. As we've seen from spy shots, the new Kia Soul will adopt some other interesting design cues. The aforementioned taillights also extend inward into the rear hatch. The headlights at the front feature a slim, full-length portion up top that appears to only have the running lights. Below are large light pods that, like on the Hyundai Kona, probably house the actual forward-illuminating lights. Kia confirmed in the teaser that it will offer versions of all the current Soul models with this new generation. That includes the base-level models, the sporty Turbo model, and the electric Soul. We've seen these iterations testing. The Soul Turbo looks aggressive with a new center exhaust outlet. The Soul EV has many blocked-off grilles like so many electrics, but more interesting is that a display inside the car suggested it will have a range of over 200 miles, similar to the Niro EV. We'll have all the details when the Soul makes its debut at the L.A. Auto Show, so stay tuned. Related Video: Image Credit: Kia Green LA Auto Show Kia Crossover Hatchback Economy Cars Electric kia soul ev

Hyundai-Kia fuel-economy errors trigger $300M in federal penalties [w/video]

This amount includes $100-million in civil penalties, the largest such fines in EPA history.
Hyundai and Kia are getting more than a slap on the wrist for overstating the fuel economy of an estimated 1.2-million vehicles in their 2011-2013 model ranges. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice and the California Air Resources Board are hitting the automakers with collective penalties valued at around $300 million for Clean Air Act violations. This amount includes $100-million in civil penalties, the largest such fines in EPA history. Specifically, Hyundai is paying a $56.8 million penalty and relinquishing 2.7-million greenhouse gas emissions credits. Kia is paying $43.2 million in penalties and giving up 2.05-million credits.