Kia Picanto will challenge the big guns

February 20, 2017

Kia has announced details of its latest Picanto city supermini which will go on sale in just a couple of months’ time and the Korean car maker claims it will be the most versatile model in its class.

Kia-Picanto

The third generation Picanto is due to be revealed at next month’s Geneva Motor Show and it’s bound to attract plenty of attention thanks to its more sporty and youthful design. It also comes packed with the latest technology and, according to Kia, the largest luggage capacity in the city car class.

Buyers will be offered extra personalisation options with a range of vibrant new stand-out colours, five optional interior colour packs featuring contrast artificial leather upholstery and stitching and a choice of four alloy wheel designs, ranging from 14-inch to 16-inch in diameter.

The new Picanto will be on offer with a choice of three petrol engines, including Kia’s new 100PS, 1.0-litre turbocharged direct injection (T-GDI) power unit which will be the most powerful engine ever offered in the Picanto, offering a top speed of more than 110mph with a 0-60mph sprint time of about 10 seconds.

However that engine won’t be available until the latter part of the year. Until then, buyers will have the choice of two enhanced versions of naturally aspirated 1.0-litre and 1.25-litre engines carried over from the outgoing Picanto.

New Picanto has a slightly longer wheelbase which has enabled designers to free up more interior space and Kia claims that the car now has more leg and head room than best-selling rivals while the boot capacity has been increased to a whopping 255 litres – up from 200 litres – and that’s the most of any car in the class.

The Picanto will only be available with five-doors, with Kia discontinuing the three-door model for the third-generation. The 1.0-litre models will, however, come with a choice of four or five seats.

Trim levels for the UK market have yet to be revealed but, for the first time, Kia will offer the Picanto in a new GT-Line specification, inspired by the sportier appearance of the company’s higher-performance GT models.

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