2006 Kia Sorento on 2040-cars

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2014 Kia Soul to get quasi-SUV look for Europe [w/poll]

The 2014 Soul is bigger and more refined, and Kia says its look has been inspired in part by the Track'ster concept. Interestingly, European buyers will get the option of a different look than what we'll see in our showrooms. They'll be able to specify the SUV Styling Pack seen here, which includes matte-black cladding on the front and rear fascias, along with what Kia refers to as piano-black trim on the wheel wells and side skirts. The roof is available painted black, white or red. With all of that black trim and slightly tougher look, the styling reminds us of the Fiat 500L Trekking, a model the Soul will compete directly against.
European markets also have the ability to spec their Souls like our North American version, which substitutes body-color trim for most of the black pieces. Currently, there are no plans to bring the SUV Styling Pack to the US. But that doesn't mean we'll never be able to buy this butch-look Soul on our side of the Atlantic. Company spokesperson James Hope confirms to Autoblog, "[Kia] has no plans to offer something similar to the EU-spec Soul at this time. However, we are always monitoring the market and if we saw an opportunity we would certainly look into it."
Feel free to peruse the press release below for more details on the Euro-spec Soul - which is slated to debut at next month's Frankfurt Motor Show - and then let Kia know if they should bring the SUV Styling Pack here by participating in our poll below.

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

Kia calls reports of second US plant 'groundless'

In discussing how Kia planned to use a focus on quality to raise its brand perception and take the fight to BMW and Audi instead of Toyota, a recent article in Automotive News Europe said one of the primary constraints was production capacity; Kia simply doesn't have the ability to make enough cars to meet its aims with the plants it has.
The CEO of Hyundai-Kia is said to be reluctant to build more plants because of that focus on quality and the fact that its suppliers are stretched to the limit. The effects of that position are being felt right now with both makers losing market share, as in the case of Hyundai not being able to make enough of its Veloster Turbo for the US market.
A South Korean newspaper apparently reported last week that Kia was planning to build a second factory in Georgia with capacity for up to 150,000 units annually, and that the company would break ground as soon as this month on "KMMG2." Kia has responded to the news by saying, "The report is all groundless." The mayor of West Point, site of the current KMMG plant, said he didn't know anything about such plans, nor did the Georgia department of economic development have knowledge of a new Kia factory.