Kia America has announced that it will end production of the Kia Soul, one of the brand\u2019s most popular and recognizable models. The 2025 model year will be the last for the Soul, with production set to conclude in October.<\/p>\n
The Soul debuted in 2009 and, over the course of three generations, sold more than 1.5 million units in the U.S. Initially positioned as a rival to the Scion xB \u2014 a compact, box-shaped car with a youthful design \u2014 the Soul ultimately found its greatest success among older buyers, who appreciated its easy entry, upright seating position, and excellent visibility.<\/p>\n
The model became a cultural icon thanks to a series of creative commercials featuring animated hamsters. While some audiences were skeptical, the campaign proved transformative for Kia, helping the brand establish itself in the U.S. market. Following the ads, Kia\u2019s U.S. sales tripled, and the Soul became a symbol of the company\u2019s evolution from a budget automaker to a mainstream global player.<\/p>\n
In recent years, however, the model\u2019s popularity has dropped sharply. In 2015, Kia sold nearly 150,000 Souls, but last year that number fell to around 53,000. The brand\u2019s larger crossovers \u2014 the Sportage, Sorento, and Telluride \u2014 have since become its best-sellers, while newer models like the Seltos and K4 Hatchback have attracted many of the Soul\u2019s former buyers.<\/p>\n
Kia\u2019s decision to discontinue the Soul reflects broader industry trends. Rising tariffs have made the sale of low-cost imported vehicles economically unviable \u2014 and the Soul was built exclusively in South Korea. With the current generation introduced in 2019, the model was already nearing the end of its life cycle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":150391,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-150390","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/150390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=150390"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=150390"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=150390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}