The ice under the Kia Soul seems to be getting real thin. The third-generation hatchback is entering its fifth model year for 2024, and despite small visual tweaks for 2023, news for going into 2024 continues Kia’s trend of making the merest of changes and a sales trend on the decline. From a high of 154,768 sales in the U.S. in 2016, sales in 2022 amounted to 56,740 units. It looks like dealers should hit that number again this year unless the bottom falls out, but with the Soul not far behind the Seltos in sales figures or price, we won’t be surprised at some rationalizing in the crossover lineup. Until then, the biggest change for 2024 is a $100 MSRP increase on all four trims. New pricing after the $1,325 (!) destination fee is:
- LX: $21,315
- S: $23,815
- GT-Line: $24,915
- EX: $25,615
The top new feature is a Designer Package for the EX trim. It stiches up the cabin in cloth and artificial leather seats and an Umber Interior Color Package, and bolts on a set of 18-inch alloys, an inch larger than standard. The suite means the EX can match the GT-Line, these two being the only trims to be had with 18-inch wheels. The Umber Interior Color Package should let the EX stand apart. While the GT-Line interior comes in cloth and Syntex imitation leather, the only interior tones available right now for any Soul of any trim are black, white, and gray.
The final tweak is an additional security feature for models that come with Kia’s Smart Key, which is all but the entry-level LX. The vehicle will activate a new Sleep Mode 40 seconds after being locked that makes it more difficult for signal stealers to duplicate the Smart Key frequency.
Every Soul comes powered by a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque, mated to a continuously variable transmission.
