- Newest addition to the Kia lineup earns 'Grooviest Interior' recognition from respected automotive publication
- Urban crossover's funky and fun interior impresses editors
- Vehicles evaluated based on design, quality, comfort and safety
Kia Motors has announced that its all-new 2010 Kia Soul urban passenger vehicle was named as having the 'Grooviest Interior' on the Ward's AutoWorld 'Interior of the Year' list. Recently launched in the US and Australia and on sale now in dealerships worldwide, Soul was one of only 11 vehicles honored for offering great looks and great value along with extensive safety features, comfort and convenience features. "We are extremely pleased with Ward's recognition of the Soul as a youthful, aesthetically pleasing vehicle that offers consumers tremendous value," said Michael Sprague, Vice President of Marketing, KMA.
"As we continue to focus heavily on design, both with the Soul and our upcoming 2010 Kia Forte (known as 'all-new Cerato' in many markets), we are confident that consumers will recognize our continued commitment to providing stylish vehicles with an emphasis on value, safety and quality."
Ward's AutoWorld editors evaluated a field of 35 vehicles that are either all-new or have significantly upgraded interiors for the 2009 or 2010 model years. The vehicles were divided into six car and truck segments based on price, with one winner being named for each of the six categories, plus special-achievement honorees are selected in five other areas.
Having both types of awards allows vehicles to compete with others in their segment, as well as with the entire field, regardless of price, resulting in all 11 awards carrying equal weight. Vehicles were awarded points for design, material selection, fit-and-finish, ergonomics, driver information, safety, value and comfort.
Soul offers consumers a highly customizable vehicle with an equally "groovy" yet user-friendly and practical interior space. With design elements influenced by the car's audio system, Soul offers an uncluttered dashboard with a three-dial instrument cluster, LCD illumination and floating center stack design that provides access to the AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio system. Standard USB and auxiliary input jacks also are in the center console with full iPod® and MP3 controllability via the audio head unit and steering wheel controls achieved with an optional accessory iPod cable.
Passengers also will be treated to unique patterns and style regardless of trim. The Soul+ trim offers funky black cloth seats with "glowing" Soul logo inserts while the Soul! trim comes with a distinctive sand-black interior with houndstooth-patterned inserts. The Soul sport presents a bold red-black interior trim with red-trimmed cloth seats and metal-finish interior accents.
Further enhancing the personal lounge feel, an Audio Upgrade Package (optional for Soul+, standard for Soul! and Soul sport) offers speaker lights that pulse to the beat of the music or simply add mood lighting to the interior cabin.
Editor's notes: Standard equipment, specifications and trim levels based on U.S. model and may vary depending on country. Supporting video is available at www.thenewsmarket.com/kiamotors. You can get broadcast-standard or streaming-quality video (for Web use) and print-quality stills. Delivery options include digital FTP transfer and streaming download in a variety of file types including Flash, MPEG-2, QuickTime and Windows Media. Registration and content is free to the media.
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