Kia has bared its Soul...
Kia has bared its Soul at last! These are the first offical pictures of the new compact car, which will go into battle with Nissan"s Note and Honda"s Jazz later this year. As you can see, the production version gets the same chunky styling as the trio of Soul concepts thatò€™ll be at the British Motor Show next week.
We"ve already seen official...
We"ve already seen official shots of the front end, but this is our first chance to take a look at the rear and interior. The firm"s latest model, which debuted at the recent Los Angeles Motor Show, is only 5.5cm shorter than the Lexus RX off-roader. But the sleek design is more like a coupé, and stylists have used the marque"s RX-8 as inspiration.
Pronounced wheelarches and sporty narrow headlamps borrow from the RX-8. These blend with a steeply raked windscreen for a purposeful stance.
The high-performance theme continues inside. A trio of individually cowled instruments sit behind a three-spoke multifunction steering wheel. Buyers can also opt for a rear view camera to aid reversing, plus a voice-operated DVD player. Keyless entry is standard, while there"s space for five, with split-folding rear seats and a big load bay boosting carrying capacity.
Power comes from a 244bhp 2.3-litre turbo petrol engine mated to a six- speed automatic gearbox, with the op- tion of full manual control. The base variant will be front-wheel drive only, with other models having electronically controlled four-wheel drive. The CX-7 will make its European debut at March"s Geneva Motor Show and hit showrooms next year, with prices from ÷£25,000.
Meanwhile, Mazda could also be plugging a gap at the lower end of its range, with the Kabura coupé. Likely to be a replacement for the much-missed MX-3, the Detroit concept also features RX-8 like styling, plus a panoramic glass roof and asymmetric doors. Power is set to come from a 2.0-litre engine, and it should go on sale next year.