Kia will continue to sponsor the Vans Warped Tour this summer. Kia has successfully sponsored this event in the past, and concertgoers genuinely enjoy visiting the Kia Soul Lounge while at the Warped Tour. Kia uses this event to get in touch with young car drivers and promote quality Kia automobiles. Kia has the reputation of creating safe, innovative vehicles and car buyers both young and old visit Kia dealerships to invest in this great brand.

The Kia Soul Lounge, which will appear at every stop on the Vans Warped Tour, contains several activities for fans to participate in. The tent will feature a live DJ as well as a Confessional for concertgoers to express themselves and an airbrush tattoo artist. Fans may also be drawn into the Soul Lounge by the two biggest acts on the tour who will be performing acoustically as well as signing autographs at designated times.

While in the Kia Soul Lounge concertgoers will of course be able to check out the newest Kia automobiles. Kia will provide fans with information on Kia’s most innovative vehicles, including the new “personalizable Soul” and the Kia Sportage 2010 model, as well as provide an opportunity to win a brand new Kia Soul. Kia will also hand out wrist bands to a few fans which will give them access to the VIP riser where they can watch their favorite bands up close and in style.

Kia is determined to give fans the best Vans Warped Tour experience possible. The automaker rounds out their additions with the Kevin Says stage. This stage uses solar power to provide local bands with the opportunity to play their music for the huge Warped Tour audience. Kia is certainly providing Warped Tour concertgoers with incredible opportunities to listen to music, express themselves, and find a brand new safe automobile.

Not only does Kia provide us with several stylish safe cars, several of which have been honored by the IIHS, this automaker truly cares about its customers. Kia is demonstrating how much they want to provide an extraordinary experience for potential Kia car buyers through their efforts at the Vans Warped Tour. Visit your local Kia dealership for more information on Kia automobiles.

Fuel prices have been on everyone’s mind for quite some time now. Everyone from families, automakers and even the government are ready for some big time changes. Starting this year with 2011 models, the federal government’s fuel-economy standards are going to change dramatically, the biggest change since the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) law was created in 1975. The average fuel economy for cars must improve from the current 27.5 mpg, where it has been since 1990, to 37.8 mpg by 2016. The truck standard has to rise from 23.5 mpg to 28.8. What does this mean for Kia dealerships in Illinois? As of 2008 Kia’s average is 33.6 average fuel economy for cars and 24.2 for trucks. Just as they do today, the rules will allow automakers to average their fuel economy across a number of models. A guzzler that doesn’t meet the standard can be “canceled out” by one or more vehicles that better the mpg standard. The Kia Sportage 2010 has an average fuel economy of about 22 MPGs, which is pretty good considering the line of much more fuel efficient vehicles they offer. The government’s 2016 fuel-economy numbers of 37.8 mpg and 28.8 mpg are projections because, unlike today, when every car and truck fleet must meet the same mandated average, the future requirements will be instead based on the size of each vehicle in a manufacturer’s fleet. Smaller volume automakers that sold fewer that 400,000 cars in 2009 will get a break on the requirements while “specialty automakers” such as BMW and Porsche will reportedly get longer lead-in times. Automakers will also get some sort of incentive for the first 200,000 plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles built by 2016. These standards are said to be equivalent to taking 58 million cars off our nation’s roads for a year, representing a savings of 1.8 billion barrels of oil.

Naturally, all of this is going to cost some extra money. If the Feds are right, automakers will spend about $51.5 billion over the next five years putting the standards into effect and the average price of a new car will rise by $985 by 2016. On the plus side, savings are expected to be even greater, with the average consumer will net an extra $3,000 in their wallets per in fuel savings over the life of the vehicle.

While car dealerships in Illinois are excited about the changes coming in the next few years, some say the government is being a bit unrealistic. Rest assured, this overhaul of CAFE was carefully considered, involved extensive input from automakers, and—with the new size-based standards—takes into account customer choice in a way that the old system never did. And if gas prices once again head toward $4, customer demand for fuel economy will likely outstrip these regulations.