Best Design of the Year

The Kia Soul, a compact utility vehicle developed by Korea’s second-largest automaker, was chosen as the best design of the year by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The ministry has been giving out the award for industrial goods since 1985, and this year applications were submitted for 1,864 products. The ministry said it chose the Soul because of the creativity it showed, noting that it has also won international design awards including one from Ward’s AutoWorld magazine for interior design and the coveted red dot - a first for a Korean automaker.