As if the astounding list of options wasn’t enough, Kia wants to make sure prospective customers know it’s serious. Of course, with the giant jungle gym that is an auto show, all they really have to do, essentially, is bare their Soul for all to see.

According to the promotional literature distributed at CAS’09, the Soul as sold in the US won’t have the Korean trim designations they’ve decided to go with for its Canadian release. And in stark contrast to the majority of other auto manufacturers around the floor, Kia chose not to showcase their Soul Hybrid concept. Instead, their Soulster Concept was out in full force, showcased in Soul’ar Yellow (what else?).

Apart from its attractive rolling-parcel aesthetic, what’s it like on the inside? Nothing particularly groundbreaking, but the interior is well laid-out, the driver’s seat adjusts easily and should accommodate most anyone who’d be interested in driving it, and all moving parts you’re likely to place your hands on while in the cabin feel solid and ergonomically pleasing. While I’m sure that as people tune their Souls, the seats will probably be amongst the first things to go, the stock ones are quite comfortable and supportive and will do nicely, should you decide to keep them.

Another interesting departure that Kia made from most of the other auto manufacturers on the floor was in their choice of promotional material: where nearly everyone else has decided to go with CD-ROMs as their means of choice for distributing promotional materials about their new vehicles, Kia’s chosen a “brand new, you’re retro” approach in the form of a rather attractive set of quirky postcards.

[Photos: Joe Lucente. Scanned art: Saputo Design on behalf of Kia.]