The Kia Soulster was a funky yellow concept car that debuted at the New York Motor Show last year. It was a good place to unveil it, because the quirky Soul supermini has become something of a sales phenomenon since it went on sale in the USA. With its wide range of colours, body decals and smart wheels it’s become a hit with the Stateside college campus community. It’s not such a massive seller in the UK – in fact you see very few around – but I really like it because it’s not a bog-standard small hatchback like a Vauxhall Corsa or Renault Clio. The reason I’m telling you all this is that I have it on good authority that a production version of the Soulster is getting very careful consideration at the highest levels in South Korea. It perhaps wouldn’t have the pick-up truck rear end, but be more of a Soul Convertible. The roof is likely to be the sort of ‘slide-away’ canvas top that’s on the Fiat 500C. The reason for the new version is that with three B-segment cars – the Soul, the Venga and the all-new Rio that’s coming in the autumn – Kia needs to make sure these products are sufficiently different so it doesn’t just steal sales from itself. And it would be Kia's first foray into open-air motoring.
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