Family friend ship

KIA’s diesel-powered Soul is undoubtedly one of the nicest vehicles I’ve driven this year. If you haven’t heard about the Soul … you can’t have been watching the 2010 World Cup!

At the South African launch of the KIA Soul about nine months ago the South African CEO, Ray Levin, promised a special version of the car — and this is it!

KIA have certainly been big in the advertising stakes for their brand … at just about every half-time break on TV while watching the World Cup soccer one is entertained by some clever driving manoeuvres and “in your face” marketing from this go-ahead Korean car manufacturer.

I was lucky enough to attend the Italy-Paraguay game here at GreenPoint Stadium and was able to witness first-hand some of the signage … the one that stood out the most? The KIA brand — who cares about Budweiser!

Seriously, every time I write about the brand I relate the story of when KIA first decided to export their wares after satisfying the home market. Japan was happy about the import of same — but no other Korean manufacturer was considered good enough for Japanese roads back then …

If memory serves me correct KIA was the first Korean brand to hit it big here in South Africa, gaining a finalist spot in our very own South African Car of the Year competition about five years ago with their Picanto model.

Talk about come of age … as alluded to earlier the Soul model is a very, very good car — even better, methinks, with the 1,6-litre turbodiesel powerplant under that stylish bodywork. It develops about 95 kW and 260Nm of torque — no wonder it goes so well.

It’s extremely quiet too, yes you can hear it’s an oilburner at tickover — but that’s the only time. Inside there’s loads of goodies for your money (prices start at around R219,950), while it’s reassuring to know that the maximum European NCap safety accolade for the Soul proved a cakewalk.

The five-speed manual-only option is nothing short of superb, the clutch light in operation and perhaps more importantly — it’s a really easy vehicle to drive for mom as well. The vehicle was designed in the U.S. of A and is sold in many, many countries around the world.

Want further proof of how good a vehicle it is? How does the recent Time magazine’s List of the most exciting cars for 2010 sound?