Just over a week after it was announced that the Hyundai Genesis sedan scored a perfect 5-star rating in crash tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), another product of the Hyundai-Kia group, the Kia Borrego, managed to do the same. The seven-passenger midsize SUV achieved the highest rating possible, for all seating positions in both frontal and side impact crash tests.

The new Kia Soul was introduced today in Korea ahead of the subcompact vehicle’s world debut at the Paris Show in early October. The Korean automaker calls the Soul an “urban crossover” but we’d settle for a tall supermini with a few crossover design elements that will take on the likes of the Honda Fit / Jazz, maybe even the Opel Meriva when it goes on sale in Europe next February followed by the North America in April 2009.