Kia Soul to Carry Pope Around Korea

Parkway Family Kia is excited to announce that Pope Francis will be driven around the Korean capital in a Kia Soul when he visits next month, a government official said Friday. The famously frugal pontiff had expressed a wish to use a compact car.

Since he became pope last year, Francis has declined to use bulletproof car, and he asked organizers of his visit here to give him the smallest Korean car possible.

The Soul has a 1,600 cc engine.

The pope usually uses a Ford Focus in the Vatican. The smallest cars in Korea are the Kia Morning and Ray and GM Korea's Spark, but the Soul is deemed safer.

During his visit from August 14 to 18, the pope will preside over four masses including at the Sixth Asian Youth Day and the beatification of 124 Korean martyrs who were among 10,000 mostly lay Catholics killed during persecution by the Confucian Chosun Dynasty in the 19th century.

He will also meet with leaders of the seven major religions in Korea and President Park Geun-hye. The organizing committee expects over 200,000 people to attend the beatification ceremony, which will be held in Gwanghwamun Square at 10 a.m. on Aug. 16.

Kia is Considering Bringing Diesels to the U.S.

Parkway Family Kia is wondering if Kia making diesel rumors a biennial thing? The South Korean automaker once again may take a closer look at making an oil-burner available for US consumption, JustAuto says. All in the name of fuel economy, of course.

Kia Motors America vice president Orth Hedrick tells JustAuto that the automaker may start selling diesels in the States during the next few years. Kia is getting ready to debut its Soul EV battery-electric in the US later this year, and with diesel powertrains gradually overcoming their perceptions of being slow and loud, the company may find a receptive audience in the US for these powerplants.

The problem has always been the inconsistent emissions standards between Europe and the US, but that may be resolved by 2018, says Hedrick. Kia's obviously encouraged by rising diesel sales from German automakers such as Volkswagen and Audi, as well as the fact that it just completed a record-breaking six-month sales period for the US. Kia spokesman Scott McKee, in an email to AutoblogGreen, would only say that "identifying new opportunities for growth is part of our long-term strategy" but reiterated that no announcements have been made.

Of course, there was a similar buzz during the spring of 2012, when reports surfaced that Kia would start making a diesel-powered Optima, which it provides to European customers.

USA: Top 3 Best-Selling Kia Models In June: Optima, Soul, Sorento

Parkway Family Kia is proud of the latest Kia sales numbers. Kia Motors America delivered 50,644 new vehicles to US customers during the month of June 2014.
On the heels of its best-ever quality rankings (announced by U.S. renowned J.D. Power), the South Korean second largest automaker set both a new sales record for the month of June and also setting the company’s best-ever first-half performance (297,413 units sold to date).
Strong sales across key models have pushed Kia’s June sales figures above those achieved last year.
While Kia Optima continued to lead the marque’s sales with 13,866 units finding new homes in June, the fully-redesigned Soul crossover recorded the sales of 12,322 units.
2015 Kia Optima Launch 300x198 USA: Top 3 Best Selling Kia Models In June: Optima, Soul, Sorento sales  Taking third spot in the Kia range was Sorento crossover vehicle, with an all-new model due early in 2015, which recorded the sales of 9,831 units.
3 Top Selling Kia Models
Optima mid-size sedan: 13,866 units
Soul crossover vehicle: 12,322 units
Sorento CUV: 9,831 units
The Forte compact car and Rio sub-compact car posted slightly lower sales numbers compared to a year ago, while on the other hand, the refreshed Sportage compact CUV increased its sales by more than 1,000 units from a year ago.
Also performing well were the two luxury sedans, including the K900 and Cadenza with sales of 224 and 1,035 units respectively.
- See more at: http://www.kia-world.net/best-selling-models-june-2014-us-market/#sthash.TrLI70ie.dpuf

Kia Soul drives Google’s Android Auto

Parkway Family Kia is excited for the latest news from Kia Corporate: Android Auto made its debut at the Google I/O Conference last week, bringing us one step closer to Android being available to you wherever you go. We talked about connected cars and UVO technology just a couple weeks ago, and this represents yet another exciting new development in “smart cars.” The Kia Soul got a chance to take Android Auto for a test drive! (Video below) Android Auto will offer just what its name suggests: easy access to any Android app from the dashboard of your vehicle, so you no longer have to dangerously drive and check your phone at the same time. Just check it from the dash of your Kia.

Stay connected behind the wheel

By simply connecting your phone through a USB cable, drivers can “project” their smartphones onto the vehicle’s display, and consequently maneuver through many apps and services through voice input and controls. When a driver’s phone is connected, Android Autoautomatically detects the phone and essentially “mirrors” the phone’s apps.

No more navigation nonsense—say hello to Google Maps!

How many times have you given up on your car‘s faulty navigation system and turned to your phone‘s Google Maps for help? Often, no doubt. With Android Auto, Google Maps, which comes with every Android-powered smartphone, can be seamlessly integrated into your vehicle, making navigating through new streets that much easier.

Whether you are driving through the wilderness, or the streets of Houston, Atacosita, Humble, of Kingwood, this new innovation is huge in the step towards staying connected while you are on the road.