Sales of the boxy compact Soul, now dubbed the "popemobile," jumped around the time of Pope Francis' visit to Korea earlier this month after his ride throughout the country in the tiny vehicle was broadcast worldwide, the car's maker Kia Motors Corp. said Thursday.
The daily average number of orders received for the second-generation Soul for the nine days since Aug. 11 came to 32.5 units, up 62.5 percent from the previous average of 20 cars for all of July, according to Kia officials.