Kia Picanto gets a fresh new look

Kia has spruced up its popular Picanto city runabout with a bold new exterior makeover. 

Infused with the South Korean carmaker's latest “Opposites United” design language, this hatchback sports a comprehensively overhauled front bumper featuring a new “tiger nose” radiator grille and reshaped headlamps available with optional LED technology. Kia has also equipped the Picanto with a new rear bumper, above which reside redesigned taillamp clusters linked together by a light bar that visually emphasises the car's increased track width (+12mm over the outgoing model). The latter aids in improved handling stability. 

The entry-level Picanto comes standard with 14-inch steel wheels, however customers can specify an optional set of alloy wheels ranging from 14- to 16-inches in diameter. Meanwhile the flagship Picanto GT Line differentiates itself with 16-inch diamond cut alloy wheels and a racy gloss black air diffuser built into the bottom of the rear bumper. Ten eye-catching exterior colours are available including new “Iced Illusion” and “Rich Brown”.

The cabin of the Picanto has also been treated to a refresh and customers can look forward to enhanced technology such as an 8.0-inch “floating” touchscreen navigation system and a digital display in the driver's instrument cluster. The former now features Bluetooth multi-connection, meaning users can pair up to two mobile devices at the same time; one for hands-free phone and media use, the other for media use only. Mobile smartphone mirroring is standard and syncs with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. 

Another cool infotainment feature is Kia Connect, which allows quick and easy access to a full suite of on-board services including live traffic information, weather forecasts, points of interest (POIs), and details of potential on- and off-street parking. Depending on the country, users can via an app remotely send route directions to their car before a journey, check the location of their vehicle, and access vehicle reports and diagnostic notifications. Helping to keep all this software up to date is Kia's advanced over-the-air functionality.

Available with up to seven airbags, the new enhanced Picanto features Kia’s advanced driver assistance systems and a range of active safety systems to enhance occupant safety. Some of these include forward collision-avoidance assist, blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, lane keeping assist, driver attention warning and leading vehicle departure warning, intelligent speed limit assist and lane following assist. Kia says the car's structure has also been strengthened with additional front subframe and B-pillar hot stamping.

The new Picanto is powered by a choice of two naturally aspirated petrol engines: a 1.0l three-cylinder or 1.2l four-cylinder. Tweaked to huff out less CO2 emissions, both of these units can be paired to either a five-speed manual or automated manual transmission. 

At the time of writing TimesLIVE Motoring can confirm the new Picanto is coming to South Africa, however Kia is yet to announce when the exact launch date will be.

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