Noting BMW’s success with the modern MINI and Toyota’s (past) success with the Scion xB, Kia decided it wanted a piece of the custom compact car action. Which meant creating a car with some character–not something we see often from the Koreans. Based on photos, Seoul’s Soul comes surprisingly close to the mark. While not a match for the MINI’s panache or performance, it is considerably more stylish than the frumpy second-gen xB.
Though it won’t be available for sale until spring, pricing was recently released. So you can configure and compare a 2010 Kia Soul at TrueDelta before you can anywhere else. The starting price: $13,995. Even comparing the mid-level Soul + (yes, that is the name of the trim level; the next one up is the !), the new Kia lists for about $1,900 less than a comparably equipped Scion xB.