Kia Soul wins Ward’s Autoworld ‘Interior of the Year’ in the U.S.

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2009-04-08 08:40

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Seoul--(뉴스와이어)--Kia Motors announced today that its all-new 2010 Kia Soul urban passenger vehicle was named as having the ‘Grooviest Interior’ on the Ward’s AutoWorld ‘Interior of the Year’ list. Recently launched in the U.S. and on sale now in dealerships worldwide, Soul was one of only 11 vehicles honored for offering great looks and great value along with extensive safety features, comfort and convenience features.

“We are extremely pleased with Ward's recognition of the Soul as a youthful, aesthetically pleasing vehicle that offers consumers tremendous value,” said Michael Sprague, Vice President of Marketing, KMA. “As we continue to focus heavily on design, both with the Soul and our upcoming 2010 Kia Forte (known as ‘all-new Cerato’ in many markets), we are confident that consumers will recognize our continued commitment to providing stylish vehicles with an emphasis on value, safety and quality.”

Ward's AutoWorld editors evaluated a field of 35 vehicles that are either all-new or have significantly upgraded interiors for the 2009 or 2010 model years. The vehicles were divided into six car and truck segments based on price, with one winner being named for each of the six categories, plus special-achievement honorees are selected in five other areas. Having both types of awards allows vehicles to compete with others in their segment, as well as with the entire field, regardless of price, resulting in all 11 awards carrying equal weight. Vehicles were awarded points for design, material selection, fit-and-finish, ergonomics, driver information, safety, value and comfort.

Soul offers consumers a highly customizable vehicle with an equally “groovy” yet user-friendly and practical interior space. With design elements influenced by the car’s audio system, Soul offers an uncluttered dashboard with a three-dial instrument cluster, LCD illumination and floating center stack design that provides access to the AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio system outfitted with SIRIUS Satellite Radio capabilities and three months complimentary service. Standard USB and auxiliary input jacks also are in the center console with full iPod® and MP3 controllability via the audio head unit and steering wheel controls achieved with an optional accessory iPod cable.

Passengers also will be treated to unique patterns and style regardless of trim. The Soul+ trim offers funky black cloth seats with “glowing” Soul logo inserts while the Soul! trim comes with a distinctive sand-black interior with houndstooth-patterned inserts. The Soul sport presents a bold red-black interior trim with red-trimmed cloth seats and metal-finish interior accents. Further enhancing the personal lounge feel, an Audio Upgrade Package (optional for Soul+, standard for Soul! and Soul sport) offers speaker lights that pulse to the beat of the music or simply add mood lighting to the interior cabin.

Editor’s notes: Standard equipment, specifications and trim levels based on U.S. model and may vary depending on country.

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Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) -- a maker of quality vehicles for the young-at-heart -- was founded in 1944 and is Korea's oldest manufacturer of motor vehicles. As part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, Kia aims to become one of the world's premier automotive brands. Nearly 1.5 million vehicles a year are produced in 13 manufacturing and assembly operations in eight countries which are then sold and serviced through a network of distributors and dealers covering 172 countries. Kia today has over 40,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of over US$14.5 billion. It is the major sponsor of the Australian Open and an official automotive partner of FIFA -- the governing body of the FIFA World Cup -- as well as a EUROTOP partner of UEFA. Kia Motors Corporation's brand slogan -- "The Power to Surprise" -- represents the company's global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation.

웹사이트: http://www.kiamotors.com