2003 Kia Sedona Ex 7 Passenger Minivan 3.8 V6 on 2040-cars

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2015 Kia Soul EV Prototype

Spend a few days chatting with the good people of Seoul about their neighbors to the north, and you'll find a pattern emerges. When they first start talking, South Korea's citizenry speaks openly and ardently about seeking reunification with their North Korean brothers and sisters. Yet once you get beyond casual conversation, you'll find that those hopes and wishes aren't all that they first appear to be. Quite reasonably - and despite everyone's best intentions - there's genuine fear that opening the border with communist North Korea would severely tax South Korea's finances, infrastructure and daily lives. It's almost as if reunification feels like something the general public has to say they want, even if they're really not buying into the reality.
It's kind of like the way American consumers and the media have been crying out for electric and hybrid automobiles, yet when it comes time to vote with their pocketbooks, their hearts just aren't in it. There are potential financial and infrastructure concerns, along with lingering worries about how well EVs will integrate into their daily lives. Today, hybrids and plug-ins make up about three percent of new vehicle sales, and the vast majority of those models are gas-electric models - one in particular. Pure electrics aren't yet even a drop in a very large bucket. It's exactly this uncomfortable dichotomy that rings in our heads as we drive through the traffic in Namyang at the wheel of a 2015 Kia Soul EV prototype.
Of course, one can't blame Kia for developing an electric car - it has California's zero-emissions mandates to meet, regardless of whether the segment's sales suggest there's a sound financial strategy attached. Kia officials we spoke with at this early drive of the company's electrified 'box' car seemed to tacitly acknowledge the Soul EV's difficult business case, but pointed to the company's effort to reduce its CO2 output as part of its reason for being. And besides, their beancounters' industry-wide projection for global EV sales in 2018 is 600,000 units, so there's got to be room to grow, right?

Next-generation Kia Sorento snapped undergoing testing

Kia has been busy - a refreshed Sorento just arrived in showrooms for the 2014 model year and the Korean manufacturer is already out undergoing advanced testing in the next-generation model. How, pray tell, do we know how far along testing is? Notice any cladding, or coverings, aside from the regular vinyl camo? Right.
Our predictive talents aside, there are still a lot of questions about the next Sorento. We don't have much to go on with the technical specs, although we'll be thunderstruck if there isn't some form of the Hyundai/Kia 2.0-liter turbo under hood. Our spies report that this new model is somewhat larger than the current Sorento, hinting that it might be riding atop the same platform as the long-wheelbase Hyundai Santa Fe. That could indicate an available V6 model, as well. Judging by the profile views, we'd bet our bottom dollar this is a three-row model.
The conflicting nature of a refreshed Sorento hitting dealers and an advanced prototype out testing in Europe makes it difficult to pin down a date for the third-generation CUV's debut. We doubt we'll be seeing the new Sorento before the end of the year - a 2014 debut with a 2015 on-sale date just seems more likely in light of the newness of the refreshed model.

Kia's second Super Bowl commercial lets booth professionals have their revenge

This is more like it, Kia. After last year's highly successful Adriana Lima-infused Super Bowl commercial for the Optima, we weren't that impressed with this year's Super Bowl ad for the new Sorento called Space Babies that Kia showed us earlier in the week. Its second spot for this year's big game, however, gave us a chuckle.
Called Hotbots and starring Miss USA Alyssa Campanella as a futuristic robot, the ad plays out a fantasy that we know for certain has crossed the minds of many booth professionals. These are the attractive set of women and men who plant themselves next to new cars at auto shows. More than just eye candy, they're usually extremely well educated on the product's specs and features. Despite that fact, they have to put up with constant oogling and questions like, "Do you come with the car?" What this T-1000 won't put up with is fingerprints on her shiny new 2014 Kia Forte, and she does something about it. Watch for yourself below.