Kia Soul discontinued after 16 years producing

Kia America has officially announced that the Soul will be discontinued by the end of October. Over the past 15 years, more than 1.5 million units of this unusual model have been sold in the United States alone.

The Kia Soul debuted in 2009 and immediately caught the eye with its bold design. In an era when compact cars were round and faceless, the Soul stood out with its strict angles and “boxy” silhouette.

Kia’s American design team said that the inspiration was a “boar with a backpack” — the idea was to create a durable and practical city car without unnecessary dimensions. This concept migrated to the series almost unchanged and brought the model success.

Advertising played no less a role: memorable commercials with animated hamsters to the hits of Black Sheep and LMFAO made the Soul a real symbol of youth culture of the 2010s.

Over the years, the model has become a kind of testing ground for Kia – experimental versions have appeared, including open-top concepts and even track modifications.

The peak of Soul’s popularity fell on 2015, after which sales gradually decreased. Despite this, thousands of unsold copies still remain in the warehouses of US dealers, available for purchase.

The closure of production means the end of a whole stage for Kia – the Soul will remain in history as one of the most original city hatchbacks of its time.