Boxcar Go: Kia Discontinues the Soul

Key Points

• Production for the Kia Soul will wrap up by the end of October.
• Despite receiving numerous accolades at its launch and sales slightly picking up in 2025, the Soul is another victim in the demise of the affordable car.

After 16 years, three generations and more than 1.5 million sold, Kia will soon build its last Soul hatchback. Having debuted in 2009 to challenge the equally quirky Scion xB, the Soul landed at the same time as the even funkier Nissan Cube. But while the latter was pulled from the U.S. market after the 2014 model year and the former hung around for one more year, neither ever approached the Soul’s success.

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At launch, the Kia hoovered up accolades for its interior and overall packaging at its price. It started below $18,000 at launch and can still be had for less than $22,000 in its final model year — some $9,000 less than its model-year 2010 price when accounting for inflation. Sales fell to fewer than 53,000 last year but have rallied ever so slightly in 2025, though it’s not enough to keep the Soul around.

Affordability Crisis

The Soul arguably ignited the styling renaissance that saw Kia’s portfolio transition from amorphous budget blobs to the daring designs the brand peddles today. While Kia shows no signs of reverting to the anonymous and forgettable vehicles of its past, the Soul’s demise does point to a more troubling trend in the modern automotive market: the disappearance of the affordable car. With stricter regulations around emissions and safety technology, as well as rising materials costs and necessary investments in electrified vehicles and semi-autonomous driving systems, manufacturers are increasingly discontinuing their most affordable models to focus on models with higher profit margins.

One factor that may have directly impacted the Soul specifically is its lack of available all-wheel drive. As ever-larger proportions of buyers continue to opt for SUVs of all sizes, the Soul’s front-drive-only layout may have been insufficiently utilitarian for many.

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Where Have All the Buyers Gone?

There is, however, a chicken-or-egg element to the rapid extinction of affordable new cars. Cars.com’s own internal data shows that sub-$30,000 vehicles account for less than 14% of new-car inventory this year, down from 38% before the COVID-19 pandemic. Certainly, having fewer budget-friendly cars will deter buyers and push them toward used options, but the current Soul remains an excellent choice. Our highs-and-lows overviews of new models typically consist of five or six things we like about them and a smaller number of things we don’t, but we summarized our first encounter with the latest generation of the Soul with the disproportionately titled “11 Things We Like (and 4 Not So Much).” We also named the 2025 Soul one of the Best Values among new cars.

Shoppers who share our enthusiasm for Kia’s affordable little box will need to act fast to scoop one up. Production ends by November, meaning what exists in nationwide dealer inventory is it for the Soul. Here’s hoping a replacement is en route with just as much personality and intrinsic appeal — and a similarly accessible price tag.

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