Kia's 2010 VG: Continuing the comeback

If Tony Montana himself put a gun to your head, could you say for certain what the Kia Rondo or Kia Spectra5 looks like? If you can, you’re in the minority of Americans, which is understandably something of an annoyance to Kia. Previously known for making fabulous rental cars, Kia has been seen by some as a bottom-of-the-barrel choice of vehicle; great for those who want a cheap car, but expect everything about it to be cheap as well.

Fed up with being treated in this manner, Kia is throwing an automaker’s version of a tantrum. But instead of holding its breath and stomping its feet, the company is sending out a slew of the best cars they’ve ever produced. If only our blue-in-the-face kids were equally as industrious.

Beginning with the Soul’s debut, the 2010 model year marks a distinct change of direction for the Korean company. The release of the funky four-door was quickly followed by the Forte -- a Honda Civic competitor that has a good chance of standing its ground against some of the most successful compacts on the market. Appearing late this summer, a sleek and sexy coupe version, conveniently dubbed the Forte Koup, will continue the upswing.

The interior and exterior designs of all three cars show signs of much-improved quality without sacrificing style, and contain standard features which would send a geek’s heart aflutter.

Cars in Real Life -- 2010 Kia Soul straddles ugly and cool

No one wants to hear how fast the Kia Soul is. They aren't interested in the great sound system or how easy it is to park. Tell 'em how you can get a bare bones 2009 version for $14,000, or let them know that its capable of getting 30 mpg on the highway, and they only have one thing to say: God it's ugly.

These are the same people who say Dylan can't sing. These are the same naysayers who defend the the new generation "Star Wars" movies. These are the people who voted for Kris Allen last week to win "American Idol." To them, looks are everything -- to hell with what's inside. Even if what's inside is truly soulful.

Best Box: Kia wins the Soul of today's youth, experts disagree

In the beginning, there was the Scion xB. For the American design palette in 2004, this boxy “toaster” was an extreme and contrarian shape, but it unexpectedly became the darling of the West Coast youth market. The car has since won nationwide popularity and is now in its second generation.

Fast-forward several model years later; enter two more cube-shaped contenders, the 2009 Nissan Cube and the 2010 Kia Soul. Each model, squarely targeted at “Millenials,” –- the more than 80 million consumers born sometime between 1980 and 1995 -- is priced between $14,000 and $20,000 (depending on options).

In a recently reported boxy car comparison test, Motor Trend magazine found three college students to square-off against their professional road test staff to evaluate the three cars and name their personal favorite.

Like all Motor Trend comparison tests, the article deserves a long, languishing read, but (spoiler alert) in the end, the young crew of college students was quite taken with the new...

Kia's new Euro concept car

The European automotive press is buzzing about a new concept vehicle from Kia that is expected to stir up the continent’s popular MPV market once the car goes into production.

Currently dubbed the No. 3 Concept Car, the multipurpose vehicle features a striking glass roof canopy that extends the windshield almost all the way over the roof of the vehicle, interrupted only by a diagonal support. The Korean automaker plans to unveil the vehicle at the Geneva auto show, which opens March 3.

Concept cars often don’t make it to the production stage, but European media reports say Kia plans to launch a production model closely resembling the No. 3 later this year.

MPVs are popular in Europe, where owners try to cram a lot of vehicle into as little space as possible. The new Kia is expected to compete with such current vehicles as the Fiat Idea, Nissan Note and Opel Meriva.

—Martin Zimmerman

Photo: No. 3 Concept Car

Credit: Kia

L.A. Auto Show: Kia Soul -- outside the box?

At its L.A. Auto Show debut this morning, Kia vice president of sales Tom Loveless called the new Soul compact, due in the spring, the company's "halo car," and "a brand-defining vehicle." Its style, he said, "simply didn't fit a single category."

Funny, but when the curtains were pulled up, we saw another member of the increasingly popular Rolling Toaster school of boxy design, kicked off in the U.S. with the Scion XB and larger iterations of the style such as the Honda Element and more recently, the Ford Flex.

In fact, Kia's spec sheet says the Soul "defies categorization," then identifies its key competition: Scion XB and XD, Nissan Cube.