In April of 2009, the Scion xB will finally get some stiff competition from Kia in the form of the Soul. As reported previously, the new model will debut at the Paris Motor Show in October, measuring 161 inches long, 70 inches wide and 63 inches tall. According to Automotive News, the Soul will be packing either a 1.6- or 2.0-liter gasoline engine powering the front wheels when it arrives in the States, while European consumers get a choice of a 1.6-liter gasoline or diesel engine.
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Kia’s diminutive new compact, the Soul, will get two gasoline engines and a turbodiesel, the automaker said on Tuesday.

The Soul is scheduled to launch in the United States in April 2009.

The Soul’s family of powerplants is made up of 2.0-liter and 1.6-liter gasoline engines, which are joined by a 1.6-liter diesel unit with a variable geometry turbocharger.

The smaller engines are similar to what the automaker uses on a European model, called the Cee’d.

Kia says the engines will be marketed globally but didn’t specify which ones are coming to the United States.

The production Soul, a front-wheel-drive, five-door hatchback, bows at the Paris auto show in October.

It rides on a modified version of the Rio platform and will offer manual and automatic transmissions.

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Just the other day, we were all looking at a teaser pic and speculating wildly, and now, here it is. Kia dropped official images of its Spectra successor, the Forte, on the interwebs, and it is one sharp little car. The styling that the Forte introduces is Kia’s new look, from the pen of Peter Schreyer, also responsible for the first-gen New Beetle and TT. The face of the Forte combines chunkily-flared front fenders with a new corporate grille, and there’s a distinctive depression down the lower part of the flanks that works well with the prominent swage line to lend a stone-hewn look to the car. The term Forte in musical notation means “play loud,” but this new Kia is restrained and maturely drawn. Additionally, the two-door variant of the Forte should look even better.
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