New Incarnation of Kia Soul for Detroit

(MoneyWatch)  South Korean automotive brands Hyundai and Kia continue to pursue an aggressive strategy to sell more cars in more product segments in the United States, and bust into the top ranks in U.S. sales volume.

Kia announced Dec. 30 it will have another version of its Kia Soul model at the Detroit auto show next month. That's fast, considering it just introduced the Kia Soul at the Los Angeles auto show last month.

A teaser photo distributed by Kia shows what could be bluish, neon lights at the headlights and on the side of the Detroit show car. That could hint at a package of high-tech and/or luxury features.

Hyundai and Kia both belong to the Hyundai Group. Together, they sold more than 635,000 cars and trucks in the United States in 2008, year-to-date through November. According to AutoData Corp., that was about 9 percent behind the year-ago period, but far ahead of Volkswagen in the United States and gaining on Nissan.

As noted in a businessweek.com article I wrote last summer, these are "not your father's Korean cars." Quality is much better than their old reputation, and the Hyundai and Kia brands are getting into every major U.S. product niche except pickups, including luxury cars and trucks, plus sports cars, like the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.

The tiny Kia Soul is small and fuel-efficient as you might expect from the brand. It also has a high level of standard equipment, which is another hallmark of the Korean brands. They typically offer a lot of features at no extra charge that cost extra on the upscale brands they are trying to overtake.

The base sound system in the Soul includes satellite radio with a three-month subscription, and an MP3-player hookup with steering-wheel controls. Those features still cost extra on some luxury cars or were unavailable until recently.

For several years, Kia has also offered a 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty, to try to dispel its legacy poor-quality reputation. Meanwhile, sister brand Hyundai will be advertising on the Super Bowl, as noted.