Kia Motors have revealed that they are considering the Soul hatchback for India going by the great reception the car received at the 2020 Auto Expo for its quirky design.
Kia Motors has had an excellent start in Indian market ever since their debut about an year ago. The Kia Seltos is an absolute favorite in the mid-size SUV segment and even the Kia Carnival has received a very good reception in spite of its high price positioning. The next big launch from Kia Motors is going to be Sonet sub-compact SUV. We have absolutely no doubt that even the Sonet will be huge success in our market given its stylish looks and feature packed interiors. However, Kia is also looking at more products for India and one of them could be the Soul hatchback.
Kia showcased the Soul EV at the 2020 Auto Expo and it had received great reception due to its unique styling. Kia had showcased an entire range of cars from their international lineup in order to gauge customer interest in these cars. That included the likes of the Xceed, the Stonic and also the Soul EV. Based on the reception the Soul received at the Auto Expo, Kia Motors is actually evaluating the possibility of bringing the Soul hatchback to India.
In an interview with carandbike, Manohar Bhat, VP Head- Sales and Marketing, Kia Motors India said, “We got a lot of feedback from customers at the Auto Expo 2020 about the Soul. The Soul is a very young and different looking vehicle. While the Soul EV might not be a viable solution for India right now, it Soul is available in other powertrains and it is well worth looking at. We have got very positive feedback about the design of the Soul. We will look at the Soul or a similar vehicle for the Indian market going forward. We are seriously looking at it and we’ll bring it only after checking out on how the market is progressing.”
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Although Kia showcased the Soul hatchback in its EV form at the 2020 Auto Expo, we are unlikely to get the Soul EV in India as the market is still not yet ready for electric vehicles. However, the Soul is also available with a regular petrol combustion engine and that is more likely to make it to India. Currently, the Soul is available with two petrol engines internationally – a 147hp, 2.0L petrol engine and a 200hp, 1.6L turbo-petrol engine. Yes, the turbo-petrol Soul is quite literally a hot hatch with 200hp of power.
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However, neither of these engines are likely to come to India. Perhaps if Kia actually brings the Soul to India, it could be powered by the powertrains that will be used on the Sonet sub-compact SUV. Considering what we have seen from Kia till now, you can expect the Soul to be feature-packed to the brim as well. The Soul will be a very unique offering in India as we do not have anything that quite looks like the Soul hatchback and it would be interesting to see how Kia positions the car in the Indian market.
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