Mark Kia by doubts of the need to issue a pickup Soul

In the current economic situation in the world's Kia had doubts about the feasibility of expanding the model range of Soul and run a series of compact pickup truck, which was built based on the concept car Soul'ster. In an interview with the publication of Ward's Auto said the head of Planning Department of the American products division Kia Orth Hedrick.

According to him, now, companies need to determine exactly how much time and resources to develop such a vehicle and, accordingly, whether the project to have any business perspective. According to Hedrick, the production version of the pickup Soul'ster because of the open top and a need to create a completely different power structure would be "almost totally new car." At the same time a top manager Kia expressed doubt that such a machine will be high demand. "Soul - a niche vehicle. And is designed for a very small group of customers", - said Hedrick.

The possible appearance on the conveyor pickup Soul'ster management company Kia announced early last year after the debut of the car at the Motor Show in Detroit. Originally this car was meant only as a show car, but the interest of visitors to the car was so high that it forced the South Korean manufacturer to think about creating production version Soul'ster.

The prototype is built on the platform Soul'ster Crossover Kia Soul. Open the back of a pickup can be both freight and passenger, and for the corresponding "turning" the car is only necessary to lay down or lift the front passenger seat and rear seats flush with the floor. Under the hood of the concept car was 120-hp four-cylinder petrol engine with 1.6-liter, paired with a five-step "mechanics".