2013 Kia Soul on 2040-cars

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Is Kia working on a sporty convertible?

It's been a number of years since we last heard rumors about a drop-top Kia, but as the South Korean automaker continues to grow into new segments, why not stir things up again? Fan site Kia-world.net got its hands on what is claimed to be an exclusive drawing (click to enlarge) of the Kia Pro_cee'd GT Cabrio.
This rendering looks exactly like what we'd picture a topless version of the three-door hatchback to look like, but until there's any official information, we'll keep this filed under "we'll believe it when we see it." The idea of a Kia convertible sounds good to us, especially if it looks like this, but we're still waiting for the sporty model that lead designer Peter Schreyer said could happen "sooner or later" back in 2010.

Imported pickup tax in play in Trump trade talks with South Korea

WASHINGTON/SEOUL - Talks starting Friday to amend a U.S.-South Korean trade deal must balance President Donald Trump's domestic agenda against the need to contain a nuclear armed North Korea and will have to be completed swiftly, officials from both sides told Reuters. The U.S goods trade deficit with South Korea has doubled since the 2012 signing of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). Almost 90 percent of the 2016 shortfall of $27.6 billion came from the auto sector, an issue the United States is expected to press hard in the Washington talks. A quick deal could give Trump his first trade victory at a time when NAFTA negotiations are dragging on without agreement and pressure on China to change trade practices has yielded little progress. The talks, led by Assistant U.S. Trade Representative Michael Beeman and Yoo Myung-hee, director general for FTA negotiations at South Korea's trade ministry, begin at a time of heightened tensions with Pyongyang. A trade ministry official in Seoul said South Korea was waiting for Washington's formal proposals and substantial negotiations would not take place on Friday over a deal Trump has repeatedly threatened to scrap. "The U.S. brought up lowering non-tariff barriers, especially for their auto industry. At the moment, we are not sure whether the U.S. will ask that but we will be prepared (for the U.S. demand)," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the press. A top priority for the Americans is maintaining a 25 percent tariff on Korean pickup truck imports, which was meant to have been phased out from 2019 under the current deal, according to a U.S. official and a South Korean car industry source. South Korea has two major automakers, Hyundai and Kia, both of which are heavily reliant on exports due to the small size of their domestic market. Critics charge that South Korea discriminates against imports with a range of non-tariff barriers. South Korean auto companies believe that Washington will also seek to increase the 25,000-vehicle per U.S. automaker threshold for U.S. car shipments to South Korea that can enter the country without meeting Seoul's domestic industry regulations. The official at a South Korea auto company, who was not authorized to speak to the media, also said the United States was interested in easing Seoul's vehicle emissions targets. These are viewed as discriminating against U.S. autos.

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.