While some of my writing colleagues argue that the automotive press has taken the Kia Soul's exterior design to its heart - it really is a cool-looking outline that looks something like the Nissan Cube and Scion xB but blows them away when it comes to the overall outline that's sleek and up-to-date.

From the sleek front end, which integrates the bumper headlight clusters and grille into a rather nice-looking design, which flows up the hood and through the sloping windshield and rounded, aerodynamic roofline to a rear that combines a small built-in spoiler and rounded, integrated bumper and quarters, the Soul is a very mice-looking microwagon. It's one of a new variety of small people-haulers that probably have gasoline planners pulling their hair out as I am sure that more than one of Big Oil's planners has predicated its quarterly profit on the public's love of Big Cars and Trucks with Large Engines and which literally drink fuel, instead of sipping it like the Soul does.

And, the reason I call the Soul a mice-looking vehicle comes from the TV add which shows four cool-mice driving down the road to some great tunes while the rest of the drivers around them just run round and around in their endless treadmills ( the obvious allusion here is the cars they have been driving for some time).

Actually, like its other new models Kia has done a great job with its Soul. Not only are the lines modern, they take other microwagons such as the Nissan Cube one better in that they are also sleeker than the Cube. Each model does suffer from a severe lack of interior carrying capacity (the Honda Fit is the winner her with nearly 60 cubic feet of capacity, but then its rear seats drop or you can split them) because the rear seats are fixed. The seatbacks do drop, but they aren't much help carrying items and if you remove them totally, you may have the extra carrying space - and bare floor - but you only have two seats, so it removes some of the incentive for buying the under-$18,000 Soul.

The only reason for the Soul, to be honest - at least I think so - is to carry four people around town while you pass gas stations and help to keep BP or Shell from generating even scarier quarterly profits (I think Exxonmobil just announced quarterly profits of $10.8 billion - which is more than the entire gross product of many small nations; their argument that they are returning this to the community just doesn't hold water observers note as less than 2 percent even turns around and ends up back in the community. The rest either goes for dividend use or to buy back stock or to just plainly make the board of directors and other major holders richer than they already are. It certainly doesn't help you or me as all it takes is extra money from our pockets. Indeed, government planners estimated it costs under $2 to produce a gallon of gasoline, but with our most recent fillup, we paid over $4 per gallon).

Like its counterparts - the Scion and Cube - the Soul is meant for lower-cost transportation. It is available in four trim levels, each building on the next, to the top-of-the-line which includes things like Bluetooth recognition, satellite radio and the like. Ergonomically, the Soul is nicely designed with all the key controls an easy reach away. The gearshift falls easily to the driver's hand. The seats, although the padding is somewhat thin, are comfortable and supportive.

From a performance standpoint, the Soul, while a little quicker than the xB, won't set the world on fire and the manual is somewhat vague and notchy, at times, but that's not its mission. It's mission - besides being very mice on the eyes - is to give you low-cost transportation (priced between $13,000 and $18,000). It achieves this and more and gives you a five-year/60,000-mile warranty, as well.