Kia Soul Burner (Great Britain)

Just took delivery of the latest issue of the British magazine Car. One of the staffers will be driving a new Kia Soul for a bit, and updating readers each month on how it’s going. The thing that caught my eye in the article was the Soul’s diesel engine, which of course isn’t available here in the U.S. It got me wondering what other differences there are between the Euro Soul and our North American version.

Well, where we’ve got four trim levels to choose from (Soul, +, !, and sport) the Brits have five: 1, 2, Samba, Shaker, and Burner. I’d say we may have a leg up on the warranty though, as across the pond Kia’s warranty is five years and unlimited mileage, while U.S. buyers are covered for 10 years/100,000 miles.

To check out the British Kia Soul, click here.

2010 Kia Forte

I’ve gotta say, the Koreans have come a long way in car design. Kia has recently introduced the 2010 Forte, which will replace the rather dull Spectra this summer. Corporate cousin to the successful Hyundai Elantra, the Forte will join the soon-to-be-available Soul as another well-styled vehicle which should raise Kia’s overall image in North America as something other than just cheap transportation with a superb warranty.