The subcompact vehicle is on death watch in America, but the quirkiest of the little cars will get another year. The Kia Soul goes into the 2024 model year almost unchanged.
The Soul is one of just five models still for sale in 2023 with a starting price under $20,000 (before destination fees). Starting at $19,890 (plus $1,325 to deliver), it’s a subcompact hatchback, arguably flirting with SUV lines.
Our expert test driver calls it “a small SUV with a big personality” that is “practical and stylish” with “a spacious, high-tech interior at an affordable price point.” Its boxy shape packs as much space as possible into a footprint so tiny that it fits in almost any parking spot.
New Security, Interior Color Option
For 2024, buyers of the top-of-the-line EX trim have a new package they can choose. The Designer Package gets 18-inch alloy wheels and cloth-and-faux-leather seats in a new shade called umber.
Every Soul equipped with the smart key feature gains a security feature for 2024 – a sleep mode that “activates 40 seconds after locking the vehicle to help prevent hackers from duplicating the smart key frequency.”
It’s good to see Kia paying extra attention to theft issues. The company has spent much of the past year struggling with the fallout from neglecting to build common anti-theft features into some older models.
2024 Kia Soul Pricing:
Prices go up by just $100 across the board, making the Kia Soul starting price still slide under the $20,000 mark. Kia also charges a mandatory $1,325 destination fee on all Souls.
| Trim Level | MSRP |
| • LX | $19,990 |
| • S | $22,490 |
| • EX | $24,290 |
| • GT-Line | $23,590 |
A Short Leash?
Kia has never formally said the Soul’s future is in doubt. But we can’t help but wonder if few changes are bad news for Soul fans.
Automakers have been trimming the cheapest cars from their lineups in recent years. Of the five models still available under $20,000, cancelation talk has come for two this summer. Mitsubishi may be canceling its Mirage subcompact car. Kia may do the same for the Rio, its smallest sedan.
Automakers have increasingly focused their efforts on attracting wealthier, good-credit buyers. That leads them to trim the bottom of their lineups.
The Soul has more personality than any of them. Kia dealers sold more than 150,000 of them in 2016 – numbers the Rio and Mirage never came close to. Kia could decide that the purge of tiny cars leaves a hole in the market and opt to fill it with a redesigned Soul in 2025 or 2026. But they’d have to buck industry trends to do it.
A lackluster round of updates may mean the car’s future is limited.
