2015 Kia Soul on 2040-cars

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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.

Kia Sorento bares its claws for X-Men special edition

We all know what Batman drives. Chrysler even postulated at what Superman would drive with its special Ram Power Wagon. But what would the X-Men drive? According to Kia, the Sorento you see here. Unveiled to promote the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD, this special Sorento has been done up in a unique livery inspired by one of Marvel's superheroes. Just which one, Kia's not saying, inviting fans to vote on its Facebook page – but unless those claws on the front are magnetized, we're pretty sure you can guess. The special Kia Sorento will be displayed at the Australian Open, which Kia is also sponsoring, and will be followed by a video of tennis star Rafael Nadal teaming up with the team of mutants and jumping in the Sorento to take on a patrol of Sentinels. This isn't the first time, of course, that we've seen Kia take inspiration from comic-book superheroes, but its previous collaborations – highlighted by a quintet of show cars unveiled at SEMA two years ago – were with rival DC's Justice League. 'X-Men' inspired Kia Sorento to debut at the Australian Open 2015 - Striking 'Kia X-Car' produced in collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment - Fans to guess the X-Men character behind Kia's latest model on the Kia Facebook page - Grand Slam Champion and 'Superhuman' Kia brand ambassador Rafael Nadal to unveil the 'Kia X-Car' at Australian Open 2015 Seoul: Kia Motors today announced details of a new collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment to promote X-Men: Days of Future Past on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD and Kia's sponsorship of the Australian Open 2015. The partnership with Fox will see the unveiling of a special X-Men-inspired all-new Kia Sorento one week before the first major tennis championship of 2015 - with Kia's 'superhuman' brand ambassador, tennis star Rafael Nadal, revealing the car. In the run-up to the unveiling of the one-off model, Kia Motors is inviting fans of the X-Men franchise and the Korean car manufacturer to guess which X-Men character has inspired the car's unique design. Visitors who go to the Kia Motors Facebook page at http://bit.ly/KiaXmen can guess from four iconic X-Men characters: Storm, Wolverine, Mystique and Magneto. Fans guessing correctly will be entered into a prize draw to win a DVD copy of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Kia plans dedicated PHEV by year’s end, battery-electric crossover in 2021

Back in January, Kia announced something it called its “Plan S” strategy. The $25 billion plan broadly outlines its targets for electric vehicles, with the highlight being plans to sell 11 battery-electric models by the end of 2025, including launching its first dedicated new EV here in the U.S. in 2021. Now we have some new details on what the Korean automaker has in mind for the latter, plus a juicy new tidbit about a new plug-in hybrid coming later this year. It comes via a scripted Earth Day video message between Neil Dunlop, product and technology PR manager, whoÂ’s shown wandering around a forest, and Steve Kosowski, manager of KiaÂ’s long-range strategy, product strategy and mobility, whoÂ’s quarantined at home. Kosowski calls Plan S “a preemptive shift” away from being a traditional manufacturer of combustion vehicles to one focused on electric vehicles, electrified vehicles and mobility. First up will be a dedicated new PHEV model coming to the U.S. by yearÂ’s end. There are no real details offered, but Kosowski brings up the HabaNiro crossover and Imagine concepts as examples of KiaÂ’s design excellence and innovation. The brand has already said the Imagine will go into production within one or two years, but it was never clear whether the “large C-segment car,” as they described it, would make it here. Imagine by Kia Concept View 12 Photos More is said about KiaÂ’s first dedicated EV model, due here by the end of 2021 — possibly earlier in other markets — and riding on a dedicated new EV platform. “ItÂ’s a crossover design that really blurs the line between passenger cars, CUVs, crossovers, itÂ’s a little bit car, a little bit crossover,” Kosowski says. It will have a range of about 300 miles and sub-20-minute fast-charging time. “In the end it will be a very stunning, dramatic new Kia EV, something that youÂ’ve never seen before.” The range figure squares with what Kia advertised with the HabaNiro concept, which it unveiled at the 2019 New York Auto Show, while the automaker has described both it and the Imagine as blurring traditional vehicle segment lines. Both concepts will doubtless lose some of their more fanciful elements — bye bye, HabaNiro's lava red interior — on the way to production, however. Kia is developing a new EV platform that it will share with Hyundai.