Kia is a brand with a growth strategy. Last year it managed to grow its global sales as gains in emerging markets helped to offset declines in North America and Europe. It is now making more cars where it sells and changing perceptions of the brand. The ‘impact’ styling of the new Soul model is the latest development in its growth strategy. Dave Leggett reports.


When you think of Kia, what springs to mind? Unexciting vehicles that deliver a lot of car for the money but that hardly excel in terms of performance, quality or finesse? That’s becoming a rather harsh verdict these days. Few would argue that the company is improving its perception in the market as better vehicles enter the Kia range, backed up by a quality proposition that is reinforced with industry leading warranty.


The Slovakian built C-segment cee’d with its 7-year warranty illustrates an important building block for the brand. It establishes Kia as a manufacturer of a high quality mass-segment car for the European market. A tinny Pride it is not. 


The Korean-made Soul that is now hitting the European market takes the brand evolution a step further.


Since the appointment of design head Peter Schreyer (an ex-Audi man responsible for the TT) in 2006, Kia has designed and produced a series of new and refreshed models, and concepts, focused around what Schreyer calls a ‘linear and minimalist’ design language. 

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The backbone of this drive has been the creation and operation of a global design network which has included the opening of dedicated Kia Design Centres in North America and Germany.


The original Soul concept was shown at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit at the start of 2006. That original concept car came out of Kia’s North American design studios in California, led by Tom Kearns.  Engineering design teams in Korea continued the detailed work of preserving as much of the concept car as possible for the production model. Kia’s European designers in Frankfurt under Gregory Guillaume were fine-tuning how it would look – and preparing their own Soul ‘sensations’, limited editions with heavy style themes.


The new Soul epitomises Kia’s ambition to grow the brand with design as differentiator. Value has not been thrown out of the window – it is still a core Kia DNA component and arguably especially important now – and the Soul has also been designed to deliver a certain level of utility. It’s a hatchback – and a roomy one given its supermini dimensions – with five doors. But the idea is to have a very different proposition from a regular B-segment supermini and that different proposition is founded on the styling.


Kia gets ’emotional’


David Labrosse, Kia Europe’s Manager Product Planning describes the Soul concept.


“It’s a unique product and a part of the emancipation of the brand. We showed with the cee’d that we can make competitive European cars in the classical compact segment. Now we are moving on to models that are much more individual and that stand out from mass production vehicles.


“The cars are becoming more emotional and give people a new reason to choose a Kia, focussing on exterior design and uniqueness. Maybe that wasn’t so important in the past when we were driven more by value and price,” he says .


Is low price still important though?


“Yes, it’s part of our basics, a gene shall we say, but we have to combine that positive characteristic with some more emotional factors. Soul has more ingredients than just price – it’s about design, the fact that it stands out and is unique.”


So what does the typical customer for Soul look like?


“There’s not a specific group we are targeting. We are looking for customers that want to stand out. These will be people who are perhaps young at heart, want to enjoy life and make a statement through the car they are driving. It is a big spectrum that wants special and unique cars. It could be a young boy interested in the sound system with LED speakers or a grandparent who wants a fun car to pick the kids up in.


“It’s more a psychological point of view, a state of mind rather than a rational lifestage or demographic type of thing. The common strand is that the car combines some utility – a rational element – with an emotional and style oriented aspect. And the main reason people will buy this car is the exterior design.“


Toyota’s Scion xB is ostensibly similar in appearance with a similar emphasis on the individual statement and a degree of customisation by the final customer. Is this Soul similar in concept with Toyota’s Scion brand in the US, which is mainly a youth brand aimed specifically at a certain demographic?


“I don’t think in Europe we are able to target the same kind of customer,” Labrosse says . “In Europe, we don’t have the same segmentation as in the US. The Soul is also an adult car that offers more roominess than an xB. There are certainly similarities with the customisation aspect but Soul is most definitely an adult car and not aimed at any particular group.”


A car for our times?


Kia’s UK marketing director Simon Hetherington sees Soul as adding incremental sales and also believes that it is particularly well suited to current market conditions.


“Soul sales will be largely incremental for us – it’s a new product. And it’s in the right space in terms of where the market is going right now,” he says.


“There is a clear opportunity to target downsizers – people downsizing for a variety of social and economic reasons, and particularly out of SUVs. Soul can still offer a lot of the functional benefits they enjoyed with their SUVs, but without some of the costs and compromises.


“There is not one single profile of customer that Soul will appeal to and it won’t be all 21-year-old college grads – the Scion xB type of experience – that market just does not exist here.”


Hetherington says the Soul is for people for whom image is important. The BMW Mini and Fiat 500 are mentioned as cars that similarly appeal to style-conscious consumers who want to drive something with emotional content.


But what segment is this car in?


“In terms of dimensions it sits mid-way between the Rio and the cee’d, so it’s at the bigger end of the B-segment. But it shares much of its powertrain technology with the cee’d. It’s perhaps a kind of B-plus,” Hetherington says.


“Rio starts at GBP7,500. Soul starts at GBP10,500 and cee’d starts at GBP11,500. The Soul dimensions aren’t quite like other cars near to it – it is higher and it is wider.”


And Hetherington isn’t put off by the depressed state of the British car market right now.


“This car goes into the heartland of where we want to be and it fits with the times. Kia represents value, increasingly represents quality – reinforced by exceptional warranty – and Soul brings a more explicit design element. Those are all good things to have in a down market.


“Of course everything’s easier when the market is growing, but this is a good time to be developing and extending the Kia brand with a car like Soul. I am certain there will be brands that have a much more difficult time than us in the downturn.”


Kia is aiming to sell 30,000 Souls this year in Europe – and 3,000 in the UK market alone. Kia is clearly feeling its way and keen not to go for big volume targets.


“Our plan is to grow share of the market,” says Hetherington. “And Soul is a new model for us, taking us to a new part of the market and where we need to gauge market reaction. We don’t want to plan on huge volumes that we cannot deliver on.


“There is a degree of confidence from the dealer network and the press reception has been good, but it’s early days.”


One thing is for sure – you will notice the Souls on the road. Kia plans a three-tier Soul line-up in the UK with a rolling programme of special models that will be refreshed every 12 months or so. Think Swatch.


These models, called the ‘Soul Originals’, draw inspiration from the European-designed Burner, Diva and Searcher concepts to reflect the individuality of Soul.  In a similar way, unique ‘Originals’ will exist for a short period to be replaced by another – fashion houses change looks, fabrics and colours, Kia will do the same with Soul.


The two traditional models in the UK are badged Soul 1 and Soul 2, while the first ‘Originals’ are named Samba, Shaker and Burner. 


An array of customisation and personalisation options will be available on top of the generous specification.  The aim is to ensure that every Soul can be as individual as the person buying it, Kia says.


The individual options available vary from interior and exterior styling items – including decals and matching carpet mats – to bicycle racks and additional luggage storage features, and audio and security upgrades.  Kia has also put together a series of option packs, which will allow personalisation at ‘extremely affordable prices’.


Soul is based on an all-new platform that will be used in modified form in other future Kia models.  It is powered by Kia’s 124 bhp 1.6-litre petrol and 126 bhp turbodiesel engines (depending on model). 


Do I have any more soul puns with which to sign off? Sorry, I’m a little souled out after going through the press pack (for example, a section dealing with safety was headed ‘Soul Survivor’).


But I reckon Kia could well be on to something with its Soul. And I agree with the thinking that it could attract a wide spectrum of customers and be particularly well suited to current market conditions with people downsizing out of SUVs and into ‘urban crossovers’. I liked it. I have seen that some reviewers have got hung up on the less than powerful petrol engine in particular. Have the diesel (if you can). But the engine won’t be the dealmaker with this car. It’s about the looks and an all round package that gives you value and utility, but with something a little bit different.  


While stuck at the traffic lights in Henley-on-Thames on a test drive, I had an unusual experience. A group of ladies at a window table in a teahouse were getting a little animated and pointing at the car (or maybe at me, but I think it was the car). A random man in the street also approached and tapped on the window, wanting to know what I was driving. That doesn’t happen very often on test drives. And for Kia’s new Soul it could be a very good sign.


Dave Leggett