- Kia will retire its near-iconic Soul subcompact vehicle late this month
- The cheap car is almost gone – there are very few new vehicles left for sale under $25,000
The boxy little Kia Soul runabout will disappear at the end of the 2025 model year. Late yesterday, Kia announced that Soul production will end this month.
Until recently, the Soul was one of the last new cars available in America for under $20,000. Its starting price climbed to $21,885 in 2025, but it was still among the most affordable cars on the market. Its chief virtues were a low entry price, a 10-year powertrain warranty, and an incredibly efficient use of space in a tiny footprint.
Well, those things and the hamsters.
Won Attention With Cuteness, Kept It With Utility
- Americans first noticed the Soul thanks to an ad campaign featuring animated hamsters
- But its staying power came from its practicality
The Soul made its mark on culture with one of the oddest advertising campaigns ever to catch on with the public. Early ads featured animated hamsters (“ham-stars,” Kia insists) dancing, rapping, and singing popular songs in and around Kia’s boxy little hatchback.
They were a hit. Kia notes that the Madison Avenue Walk of Fame named the hamsters the first-ever advertising “Rookie of the Year.”
Related: The Sub-$20,000 Car Will Disappear This Summer
The Soul debuted amid a trend of little boxes on wheels. It outlived the Nissan Cube, Scion xB, Honda Element, and other toaster-shaped subcompacts in part because of the rodentia and in part because a low price and long warranty made it among the most practical purchases a car shopper could make.
Still a Good Deal Today
- Dealers have some left on sales lots, and they still make a lot of financial sense
That will remain true for a few months longer. Dealers have a stockpile of Soul models for sale today. Even the most expensive 2025 model (the EX Soulmate Special Edition) stays well under $30,000 fully equipped. The parts that make it go could still be under warranty in 2035.
Dealers often accept lower offers for discontinued cars, anxious to get them off the lot and fill that space with something still advertised.
Kia may be Soulless soon, but the angular design it kicked off is the heart of Kia today. The company calls the Soul “the first production vehicle in Kia’s design-led and historic transformation.”
You only have to glance at the design-forward Kia EV9 to see it. Yes, the EV9 is all fractals and planes. But its…we’ll restrain ourselves and call it “essence”… is still that of a stretched out Soul.
Kia’s overall U.S. sales nearly tripled during the Soul’s 15-year run.
