The compact crossover Kia Soul has been subjected to a comprehensive modernization – however, so far it only concerns the North American specification of the model. With the update, the exterior of the car has slightly changed and the range of versions has been reduced.
Outside, Soul has retouched the front and rear parts of the body. Designers abandoned the two-tier headlight solution and returned to solid blocks. The Kia emblem has been moved from the hood to a decorative black bar between the headlights. Both bumpers have sharp edges that make their shape more pronounced. The air intake mesh received a silver pattern on the motif of the letter X. The exhaust pipe nozzle became in the form of an isosceles trapezoid.
The design of rims with a landing diameter of 17 and 18 inches has changed.
The North American Soul has had its range of modifications reduced. First, the X-Line version dropped out - it had a number of styling features on the outside, like silver lining on the bumpers and sills. Secondly, the Americans were deprived of Soul's turbocharged modification, which had a 1.6-liter engine with 201 hp. The 2022 Soul is only equipped with a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine producing 147 hp. It is combined with a stepless variator and front-wheel drive.
In the cabin, the screen diagonal of the multimedia complex has increased to 10.25 inches. The basic package includes preventive safety features, including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian recognition, lane control, driver and blind spot monitoring, and automatic high beam control.
Sales of the restyled Kia Soul in North America will start within a few weeks.
In the near future, the update will affect model variants for South Korea and Europe.
Recall that the SK3 generation cross-hatchback has been produced since 2018. Soul is manufactured at a factory in Gwangju, Korea.
Kia Soul with restyling lost bunk headlights
