2014 Kia Sorento Ex on 2040-cars

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Minivans and hybrids shopped by men and women equally

Men love fast, exotic cars, and women want something safe and practical – at least that is the way conventional thinking goes. But a new study challenges these old beliefs. According to the auto information aggregators at iSeeCars, both sexes shop for minivans and hybrids equally. The study also dug deeper into the different browsing habits between genders. For instance, women are twice as likely to shop for Kia and 67 percent more likely to shop for Hyundai. Men are seven percent more likely to buy American cars. Both sexes shop the German brands equally. It seems that men might be slightly greener in their shopping because they are twice as likely to browse electric cars and two and a half times more likely to look at diesels. Still, the old stereotype of men wanting a more performance-oriented car is not entirely false. They also are more likely to look at cars that cost over $45,000, and men are still more likely to buy a sports car. "Men like fast, flashy cars. They are performance oriented, even if they have to shell out more money," Phong Ly, cofounder and CEO of iSeeCars, said in an interview with CBS MoneyWatch. "Women are looking for the best value." The iSeeCars study got its data directly from dealers and online sellers like eBay Motors, then determined sex based on first name and excluded gender-neutral names. What it shows is that even if men might like browsing for fast cars, practicality and economy win out in the end. It's still fun to look, though. News Source: iSeeCars via CBS News MoneyWatchImage Credit: Shutterstock / Deklofenak Hyundai Kia Car Buying Minivan/Van Electric Hybrid

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

2021 Kia Seltos First Drive | The Soul-ful CUV

To understand the 2021 Kia Seltos, you first have to consider its soul, the Kia Soul. Between the fun-and-funky styling and the compact, practical body style with tons of cargo room, the car that has defied traditional segment labels for a decade (and won an Autoblog comparison test) is a great all-around daily driver for folks who don’t want something that's obviously a crossover. ThereÂ’s just one problem: A lot of people really, really want crossovers. With this in mind, Kia decided to see if the Soul could be made more like one of them. Now, the simplest way to do that could've just been to introduce an all-wheel-drive Soul derivative, but somewhere along the line, the Korean automakerÂ’s product planners decided that would've been a half measure. They considered the fast-growing small crossover segment too hyper-competitive to simply trot out some half-assed Soul "Cross Country" model. Well, besides the X-Line. Instead, the 2021 Kia Seltos was born, a completely different vehicle in its own right, yet one that wears its soul on its sleeve by packing subtle hints to that trademark styling and some of its interior options. If offering all-wheel drive as standard helps cement its identity as a crossover, then the fact its all-wheel drive system comes with a locking center coupling truly seals the deal. In fact, despite our best efforts, we could find only one glaring omission in its CUV bona fides — towing capability. It has none. Sure, Kia offers a “Lifestyle Hitch” accessory for the Seltos, but that's only good for plugging in something like a hitch-mounted bike rack. Those with jet skis, you're out of luck. Trying to further pigeonhole the Seltos quickly becomes difficult, as the baby crossover space is so crowded with new entries in search of a niche that itÂ’s almost impossible to strictly define how it is segmented. You could easily count 20 vehicles of varying size and capability as competitors for the Seltos, from the front-wheel-drive-only Nissan Kicks and Toyota C-HR to the off-road-ready Jeep Renegade. Sister company HyundaiÂ’s Kona and smaller Venue could be considered, too, and then there's the Soul for those who don't need all-wheel drive and obvious crossover image.   Among them all, Seltos falls on the larger end of this evolving spectrum of subcompact “utility” vehicles.