2024 Kia Soul

The cheeky, boxy Kia Soul has seen better days — Kia sold more than 100,000 a year for most of the 2010s — but the car itself looks as good as ever. A facelift for 2023 refined the Soul’s simple yet distinctive style and made safety tech available in more trim levels. For 2024, the subcompact hatchback brings a new EX Designer Package and a sleep mode for the Smart Key.

What’s New?
For 2024, a new EX Designer Package is available for the mid-level EX trim. The package includes 18-inch wheels and an umber (orange-brown color) interior with seats wrapped in a combination of cloth and synthetic leather. The Soul’s available Smart Key also gets a new sleep mode to help prevent hackers from copying the key’s frequency; it activates 40 seconds after the vehicle is locked.

Safety, Power and Efficiency
The base Soul LX comes standard with forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, lane departure steering assist and a driver attention warning that sounds a chime if it decides the driver is distracted or inattentive. Blind spot monitors and a lane-changing assist system that resist a lane change if it risks a collision are available, as is rear cross-traffic alert with automatic emergency braking. Those systems are standard from the S trim on up.

After the departure of the turbocharged engine for 2023, the only powertrain available in the Soul is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 147 horsepower and 132 pounds-feet of torque; it sends power to the front wheels through a continuously variable automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is not offered. The LX, S and GT-Line trims have an EPA rating of 27/33/30 mpg city/highway/combined, while the EX gets an EPA-rated 29/35/31 mpg.

Availability and Trim Levels
The 2024 Kia Soul will go on sale imminently. Full pricing (including a $1,325 destination fee) is as follows:

• LX: $21,315
• S: $23,815
• GT-Line: $24,915
• EX: $25,615

The LX rolls on 16-inch wheels and features keyless entry and an 8-inch touchscreen display with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. The S adds keyless starting, dual-zone climate control, a power driver’s seat, and a 10.25-inch screen that adds navigation and satellite radio, plus a wireless phone charger. The GT-Line boasts a moonroof, 18-inch wheels and unique exterior trim.

Inside, it gets a leather-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel and shift knob, as well as seats trimmed in a blend of cloth and synthetic leather. The top EX rides on 17-inch wheels and features premium upholstery and heated front seats.

Versus the Competition
While its boxy shape doesn’t conform to the compact crossover norm, its footprint and interior space align most closely with vehicles like the Honda HR-V, Nissan Kicks and sibling Hyundai’s Venue. The Honda starts at $25,425. Nissan hasn’t priced the Kicks yet for 2024, but the 2023 model starts at $21,925. Ditto the Venue, which starts at $20,985 for 2023.