Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, said Tuesday that its Soul box-type hatchback is dominating rivals in the North American market for the third year in a row.

The Soul compact that hit the U.S. and Canadian markets in 2009 has been the best-selling car in both countries since its debut against such competitors as the Nissan Cube and Toyota Scion xB.

In the first nine months of this year, sales of the Soul hit 78,669 units compared to 13,652 Cubes and 12,974 Scion xBs.

Kia said that in 2009, Soul sales reached 31,621 with numbers going up to 67,110 units in the following year.

The company, which is one of the flagship companies of Hyundai Motor Group, the world’s fifth-largest automaker, also said that sales of its five-door hatchback surpassed the 10,000 unit mark per month in March.

“Strong sales can be attributed to excellent value and quality of the car, as well as aggressive marketing efforts,” a Kia spokesperson said. The carmaker’s TV advertisement featuring a hamster won the Automotive Ad of the Year by Nielsen Automotive Advertising for the second consecutive year.

In the smaller Canadian market, 9,407 units of the Soul were purchased from January through September far above the Cube’s 350 vehicles in sales. The Scion xB’s sales number reached 1,141 units in the same period.

Kia, meanwhile, said the introduction of the refurbished Soul with its 1.6-liter gasoline direct injection engine and upgraded transmission will likely allow it to remain at the top of the boxy-type car segment.

The new GDI engine produces a maximum horsepower of 140, up 13 percent from 124 horsepower produced by older versions, and has 5 percent better fuel economy, allowing the car to travel 15.7 kilometers on a liter of fuel. (Yonhap News)