Putting Lipstick on a Pig: Three Generations of the Kia Soul

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Your Loyal Blogger considers the Kia Soul to be a truly ugly automobile.  It started out ugly, its facelift was ugly and the recent design retains the uglyness.

The Wikipedia entry for the Soul is here.  As of the time this post was drafted, that site held that there were three generations of Souls.  I consider the second "generation" a facelift, but for the purposes of the present post I'll go along with Wikipedia.

Dates for "generations" refer to model years when the Soul versions were introduced in the United States.

The images below are either factory or distributer sourced.

Gallery

2012 Kia Soul dashboard, factory photo via the NetCarSow website.  A car might be ugly when viewed from outside, but owners mostly experience such cars from the inside.  This interior is rather busy looking, but not out of line with contemporary fashions.

2014 Kia Soul dashboard: same sources, same evaluation.

2020 Kia Soul dashboard.  The paired binnacles create a uneasy feeling for me.  This probably is because they are almost, not not exactly, the same size and shape.  The centrally mounted one needs to be reshaped or reduced in size.

2012 Kia Soul side view.  The most distinctive Kia design feature, in place from the beginning, is its sloped, flat roof.  I hate it.

2014 Kia Soul side view.  It seems to be the same body as for the previous "generation."

2020 Kia Soul side view.  Aside from some changes in side sculpting, the underlying body still seems to be the same as the original.  However, the wheelbase did increase by about 30 mm per "generation."

2012 Kia Soul front quarter view.

2014 Kia Soul front quarter view.  The most noticeable change is the hood: note especially the side cutlines in these two images.  Other detail changes include minor front end reshaping and the headlight assemblies.

2020 Kia Soul front quarter view.  Again, some reshaping that continues the original frontal theme while conforming to recent styling fads.  Please note the area around the top of the A-pillar in this image and the two previous ones, especially the roof's transition from radius to flat.  The shaping looks identical, again calling into question whether the original body was completely replaced between "generations."

2012 Kia Soul rear quarter view.

2014 Kia Soul rear quarter view.  The aft was completely redone for 2014, though the tail light theme was retained.

2020 Kia Soul rear quarter view.  The aft cutline of the rear side door is slightly different.  Again the rear was given substantially restyled detailing, edging further into the currently popular jazzy looks.

In summary, I do not know for sure if the 2020 Soul retains significant parts of the original body.  Perhaps readers more familiar with the cars then me can offer a definite answer.  And if the 2020 body is indeed a complete redesign, it is clear that Kia stylists made a strong effort to retain its signature roofline while adding flashy detailing  of the kind often seen on Japanese cars.

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