Kia will have its hands full at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show, with five (yes five) concepts as well as the previously introduced three-door pro_cee'd and refreshed Picanto, the company's smallest car. The three Soul concepts -- Soul Diva, Soul Burner, and Soul Searcher -- are Kia's way of showing it can be playful and, more importantly, are "closely related" to a production car that will debut at the Paris Show in September.
All Souls are the same underneath all the flash, using a unitary steel bodyshell from the production model set for Paris. The concepts ride on a 100.4-inch wheelbase and are about 161 inches long, depending on the front and rear overhang. For comparison, the three-door pro_cee'd hatch has a 104.3-inch wheelbase and a total length of 167.3 inches.
Soul Diva
The Soul Diva will complement those special consumers who prefer their accessories the gaudier the better. Even Gregory Guillaume, Chief Designer Kia Motors Europe, said about the Soul Diva: "I never thought I would be putting so much gold on a car." Finished in shiny metallic white paint, the Soul Diva has gold-accented door handles, gold roof rails, and 19-inch gold-finished alloy wheels with 225/45 tires featuring an overlapping circles tread pattern. The interior is equally outrageous, with a dashboard covered in white leather and a gold-trimmed center stack. The two-spoke steering wheel also has white leather, contrasting the glossy black imitation leather that has been designed to look like a sofa. Luckily, the concept comes with a panoramic glass roof in case a Soul Diva driver can't take the white and gold anymore. Kia says the black long-pile 'Pony-hide' carpet begs to be stroked, and we'll take their word for it.
Soul Burner
The Soul Burner is the Diva's foil. Guillaume considers the Soul Burner the bad boy of the Soul triplets, yet the concept is covered with an almost matt black paint Kia calls "satin." Except for the red lower front air intake, wheel rims, and door mirrors, the Soul Burner is black. The Soul Burner's claims-to-fame are the dragon "tattoos" on each side of the concept. One large dragon stretches from the left side and blows fire on the bumper. A smaller dragon appears on the right side of the concept, rising from the sill panel over the C-pillar. The Soul Burner is the sportiest of the trio and rides on the widest, lowest profile tires. The 245/40 R19 rubber's tread patterns consist of dragon flames. Four sports seats with a dragon scales pattern keep everyone in their place, focused on the matt red, black chrome, and deep black interior components.
Soul Searcher
Among the three concepts, the Soul Searcher is the one for which we would hire a driver. The concept is all about finding inner peace, soothing occupants anyway it can. Guillaume says the concept tries to capture "the spirit of Korean and Far Eastern culture" while also taking inspiration from the Chinese Chan and Japanese Zen. The inside and outside are finished with tones of pale green-grey, cream, and beige tones. The interior incorporates used "much-loved leather," a unique touch that covers the seats and dashboard. Instead of the Soul Diva's panoramic roof and the Soul Burner's solid roof, the Soul Searcher has a folding concertina-style roof, which also has a weathered leather appearance. Kia thinks the Soul Searcher serves as a stress-free comfort zone fit for busy urban landscapes.
If a gold-trimmed center stack and used leather don't excite you, Kia's eco_cee'd concepts might do the trick. You may have already figured out that the cars are based on a three-door pro_cee'd and a five-door cee'd. Kia says technology implemented on environmentally-friendly concepts will appear on the 2009 model-year Kia cee'ds. In fact, the concepts are based on production cee'd and pro_cee'd models, and are powered by a 1.6-liter CRDi diesel that, on the concepts, produces about 113 horsepower and meets the Euro 5 emissions standards to be put in place in 2011. Both cars get a new six-speed manual transmission with a display indicating optimum moments to shift based on speed and engine revs.