2014 Kia Soul + on 2040-cars

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Kia continues run of Soul special editions with Red Zone

The 2014 Soul has come on strong since its introduction, going so far as to become the Korean automaker's top-selling model last month, but Kia isn't wasting any time in creating a little extra excitement for its boxy hatchback. Although the name is a little wonky, the Kia Soul Red Zone marks the first special-edition model for the second-gen Soul, and its styling is meant to mimic the 2012 Track'ster Concept, the showcar that inspired the design of the 2014 Soul.
While there's no pigskin or AstroTurf (or any other football-related references) to be found on this car, the Red Zone package consists of a distinctive white paint scheme with bright red accents. The red theme continues on the inside with contrast stitching and piping acting as highlights to the otherwise all-black interior. The 2014 Soul Red Zone goes on sale early next year, and while official pricing has not been announced, production will be limited to just 2,000 units.

U.S., South Korea strike a new trade deal

WASHINGTON — The United States and South Korea have reached agreement on a new trade pact, the White House said on Tuesday. "We have come to an agreement in principle, and we expect to roll out specific details on that very soon," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told a briefing. Her comments were the Trump administration's first confirmation that the two sides had reached an agreement in trade talks covering revisions to the U.S. South Korean Trade Agreement (KORUS) and a South Korean exemption from new U.S. metals tariffs. Seoul on Monday announced a deal to limit exports to the U.S. of South Korean steel, while extending high U.S. tariffs on any possible South Korean pickup trucks and increasing U.S. automakers' access to the Korean market. But details of the agreement have not yet been released by the U.S. Trade Representative's office, which led the negotiations for the United States after President Donald Trump last year called the 6-year-old bilateral pact a "horrible deal" that had doubled the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea since 2012. The deal is expected to permanently exempt South Korea from Trump's tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, but South Korea will have to reduce its steel exports to the United States by 30 percent from its average over the past three years to about 2.68 million tons. South Korea was the third largest steel exporter to the United States last year after Canada and Brazil. The agreement also was expected to double South Korea's import quota for cars meeting U.S. safety standards — not necessarily Korean standards — to 50,000 per manufacturer per year from 25,000 previously. The big challenge now would be getting unimpressed Korean consumers to buy them. The 25 percent U.S. tariff for pickup trucks, which was due to begin a phase-out starting in 2019, would be extended for another 20 years, according to South Korean officials. This would virtually ensure that any pickup truck contemplated by Korean automakers Hyundai or Kia for the U.S. market would be built in the United States.Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe and David LawderRelated Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: Reuters Government/Legal Hyundai Kia

Don't call it a minivan: Kia previews new Sedona Grand Utility Vehicle

Kia sells more crossovers than ever, but it's not forgetting about its entry into the minivan segment. It released a design sketch to preview the next-generation Carnival, which is known as the Sedona in the United States. Stylists shun the increasingly unpopular minivan label; they claim they've created a Grand Utility Vehicle whose design is more stylish, more futuristic, and, somewhat inevitably, more SUV-like than the outgoing model's. The sketch released by the South Korean firm indicates the Sedona's front end receives a taller, flatter hood, a bigger grille with vertical slats and a chrome-look frame, plus thin horizontal lights accented by LED elements. Its overall proportions don't drastically change, no one's going to mistake it for a Stinger, but blacked-out door pillars create the illusion of a floating roof. We don't know what the rear end looks like yet, though the company noted the horizontal crease below the window line links the lights on both ends. The alloys are gigantic, but keep in mind we're looking at a design sketch. The production model will ride on smaller wheels with more sidewall. We'll need to muster a little bit of patience to find out what the Sedona looks like inside, or what its sheetmetal hides. Practicality is the name of the game in the minivan segment, so Kia will likely pack an array of clever features into the van to make commuting, kid-hauling, and road-tripping easier. Seeing a hybrid powertrain join the specifications sheet would make sense considering the market's on-going shift towards electrification, but nothing has been confirmed at this point. The current-generation Sedona receives a 3.3-liter, 276-horsepower V6 for the American market, and we wouldn't be surprised if it downsizes to a turbocharged four-cylinder. Kia will introduce the fourth-generation Carnival this summer, and the model will go on sale in its home country in the third quarter. It will begin arriving in other global markets shortly after. Although the company didn't specifically mention the United States, we'd bet on seeing it in showrooms as a 2021 model. Minivans are getting their lunch money taken by crossovers here, but the segment remains reasonably big. Kia is one of its underdogs: It sold 16,000 examples of the Sedona in 2019, while Honda and Chrysler each found nearly 100,000 buyers for the Odyssey and the Pacifica, respectively, and Toyota reported 73,585 Sienna sales.