Joining Mitsubishi, Honda and Chevrolet in the rugged category at this year’s Chicago Auto Show is Kia with a rough-and-tumble concept debut of its own.
The all-too-brief official release mentions that the concept “re-imagines one of the brand’s most popular vehicles,” with styling to come out of Kia’s design studio in California. Said concept echos a similar intent behind the Hyundai Santa Cruz concept from the 2015 Detroit Auto Show earlier this month: a vehicle for “city dwellers seeking an adventurous escape and intended to enable a variety outdoor activities.”
Though little more was mentioned, Autoblog speculates the vehicle providing the foundation for the concept may be the Soul, which is offered with a SUV Styling Pack for the European Domestic Market. The publication adds that the name and a teaser image will be revealed Thursday, per Kia representative Emily Grannis.
I don’t understand how a Styling Pack provides any ‘rough-and-tumble’ cred.
Ask the Brazilians and their Adventure-everything trims.
The Europeans love it, too. See VW’s “Cross” models and others. Same basic formula.
I don’t get it, but it sells. To me it just pollutes the cars’ look. However, some are a little different. Here in Brazil, Fiat actually raises the suspension a notch or two. I have heard many times, especially from people who live out in the country, that this makes a big difference.
That Chryfi Renegade has Kia on the run. It may not be a Wrangler, but compared to the Soul with or without an SUV appearance package for climbing curbs, it’s a veritable Pinzgauer and maybe even more chic inside.
It’s probably this, the Track’ster.
http://machinespider.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2013-Kia-Track%E2%80%99ster-SUV-Concept1.jpg
I like it!
Well, the Track’ster was supposed to be a preview of what is now the current-generation (2014-present) Soul, which we have in our family fleet. But it could be something *based* on the Soul.