Kia Soul, one of the most popular Korean brand – although it is not like globally – will disappear. On Monday, Kia announced that the year 2025 would be the last model year of the soul, with the end of production this month. The brand notes that there is still a few thousand on many agents, if you really want one.
Kia first appeared in 2009, and the company sold more than 1.5 million in the United States over three generations. like the New York Times I mentioned Upon launch, Kia wanted a competitor to Scion XB, a type of box on wheels of a different nature from the traditional hatchback.
Like XB, the soul lived in the specified space between the integrated and intersection, with a long -standing tall leadership mode. Kia wanted to appeal to the city’s young pioneers, although she was actually common for older buyers due to this straight driving mode and ease of entry/exit.
Of course, the soul is likely to be known for its advertising campaign, which included moving hamster. Many people (and still hate) hate these commercials, but as Kia indicates, the brand sales in the United States have multiplied three times during the life of the soul, and this small, unconventional car was a great contributor to this. When it arrived, Kia was an alternative budget car manufacturer in the United States, but now, it is really prevalent, with an excellent set of cars and four -wheel drive vehicles.
Spirit sales, however, decreases nearly 150,000 peaks in 2015; Last year, Kia moved around 53,000. Kia cash cows are now larger SUVs like SPORTAGE, Sorento and Telluride. Meanwhile, KIA has some overlapping offers in the upcoming SELTOS Subcompact SUV and K4 Hatchback, which must capture former Soul customers.
Soul’s cancellation also reflects a current fact of the auto industry: with customs tariffs, the sale of cheap imported cars is simply not profitable, and the soul is made in Korea. Given that the third -generation Soul first appeared in 2019, she was approaching the end of her life anyway, and Kia might have always been prepared to re -focus efforts towards the most popular (profitable) and EVS parts.
However, the soul was the cheapest Kia offers at 21395 dollars, and its death is just another new car with reasonable prices at a time of inflation and stagnation in wages.
