Worldwide, more than 1.4 million of the current-generation Picanto have been sold since it was launched in 2011, with more than 300,000 of those sold in Europe. Despite the car approaching the end of its lifecycle in showrooms, Kia sold more than 55,000 Picanto models in Europe in 2016, representing year-on-year sales growth of 3 per cent.
Exterior design
The all-new Kia Picanto has been created by Kia’s design centres in Namyang, Korea and Frankfurt, Germany, collaborating to design a youthful, energetic look.
Briefed to produce an innovative, bold and fun-looking urban city car, designers have followed up on the mandate to full effect, giving the new Picanto a more assertive stance with bolder body lines.
With the wheelbase extended to 2,400 mm (an increase of 15 mm), the wheels have been pushed further out to the corners of the car for a 25 mm shorter front overhang, making the car look more planted on the road. Strong, straight lines run horizontally across the front of the car, emphasising the ‘tiger-nose’ grille and angular new wrap-around headlamps. Vertical lines that encompass the side intakes and lower grille enhance the Picanto’s more confident new ‘face’.
In profile, the new Kia Picanto is characterised by distinctive lines running along the side skirts, shoulder and around the wheel arches, and subtly-sculpted body surfacing – again, each helping to create a more confident on-road design and visually ‘stretching’ the car for a greater sense of ride stability – although the Picanto is no longer than the outgoing model, at 3,595 mm in length.
The new model adopts Kia’s wide C-pillar as a design motif, which stands more upright than that of the previous model. Combined with a longer rear overhang – up 10 mm, to 520 mm – for a more assured posture.
The all-new Picanto will offers buyers greater potential for customisation than ever before, with a choice of 11 vibrant paint finishes designed to make the car stand out. Among the six new colours available to buyers are ‘Lime Light’, ‘Shiny Red’, ‘Aurora Black’ ‘Pop Orange’, ‘Sparkling Silver’ and ‘Celestial Blue’ pearlescent metallic paint finishes. The Picanto is fitted with 14-inch steel wheels in its most basic form, and customers can select one of four aluminium alloy wheel designs, ranging from 14-inch to 16-inch in diameter.
The exterior of the Kia Picanto is also complemented by new projection headlamps with LED indicators and LED daytime running lights, and, from Q3 2017, a subtle shark-fin antenna on the roof to replace the existing aerial.
For the first time, Kia will also offer the Picanto in a new ‘GT-Line’ specification, inspired by the sportier appearance of the company’s higher-performance ‘GT’ models, such as the Optima GT. In GT-Line specification, the exterior of the new Picanto is completed with red, silver and black highlights in the grille, side intakes, along the side skirts and in the rear valance, as well as chrome-tipped twin exhausts.
Interior design
Inside the new Picanto, Kia designers have created a more modern, refined cabin than the second-generation model, with new materials and layout adding a greater sense of quality for occupants. The predominantly horizontal design adds greater visual width to the interior, highlighting the increased cabin dimensions.
The dashboard layout is now more centrally aligned, with a large 7.0-inch ‘floating’ touchscreen HMI (human-machine interface) sitting at the heart of the centre console and moving many of the car’s controls further up into the driver’s line of sight. A satin chrome-effect strip runs across the dashboard for a higher quality ambience, and large, vertical air vents at either end ‘bookend’ the front passenger compartment.
Inside, the new Picanto provides occupants with more leg- and head-room than best-selling rivals in the A-segment, while a lower step height makes for easier ingress and egress. The base of the dashboard has been moved upwards by 15 mm for greater knee and leg space for front passengers. The new Picanto is available with either four or five seats, with the rear bench split into either two or three seats depending on buyer preference (1.2-litre models are five-seat only).
Beneath the sun visors in the front of the cabin, the vanity mirror also features bright new LED lights and a strip of mood lighting. By providing the surrounding glow of a make-up room mirror, the Kia Picanto’s new vanity mirror makes it easier for occupants to apply make-up, check their hair-style, or adjust their hat, scarf or tie.
The new Picanto is the first car in its class to offer buyers torque vectoring by braking – an additional function of the Electronic Stability Control system (ESC; see ‘Safety’). The adoption of this new technology for an A-segment car means the Picanto retains a higher degree of handling stability and security under cornering, while helping to reduce understeer during harder cornering.
Engines and transmissions
Underpinning the all-new Kia Picanto’s quicker, more responsive steering is a range of highly efficient small-capacity petrol engines. Serving to minimise the weight over the front axle, the downsized engine line-up also delivers the sprightly acceleration and immediate powertrain responses that customers expect of an urban car.
Three petrol engines will be available to buyers. The 1.0-litre and 1.25-litre naturally-aspirated multi-point injection (MPI) engines have been carried over from the outgoing Picanto, with a range of enhancements to improve efficiency and driveability. From Q4 2017, Kia’s new 1.0-litre T-GDI (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) power unit will also be available, offering turbocharged petrol performance in the Picanto for the first time ever. All engines are paired with a five-speed manual transmission, delivering power to the front wheels. Idle Stop & Go is available on certain manual models, while the 1.25-litre MPI engine is also available with a four-speed automatic transmission.
The 1.0-litre MPI engine provides the entry point into the Picanto range, producing 67 ps at 5,500 rpm and 96 Nm torque. The most fuel efficient engine available to Picanto buyers, the 1.0-litre unit is capable of producing just 89 g/km of carbon dioxide (four-seat model; New European Drive Cycle, combined), down from 95 g/km on the outgoing model (a 6.3 per cent reduction). Upgrades to the engine include a new exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head, and a new cooling system with shut-off valve, reducing the time it takes the engine to warm-up from a cold start. A new two-stage oil pump also reduces mechanical friction.
The mid-range 1.25-litre MPI produces peak power of 84 ps, and 122 Nm of torque. Kia Picanto models with this engine will emit 104 g/km of CO2 on the combined cycle, compared with 106 g/km for the existing Picanto. For its application in the new Picanto, Kia engineers have optimized the valve timing of the engine’s dual CVVT (continuously-variable valve timing) system, and have also adopted a similar new cooling system and shut-off valve to the 1.0-litre MPI engine. New low-friction coated piston rings also help to reduce cylinder friction for greater efficiency.
The 1.0-litre T-GDI engine, available in the Picanto for the first time, produces 100 ps and 172 Nm torque, the highest power and torque outputs ever offered in Kia’s A-segment model. The engine features a single-scroll turbocharger for instant acceleration, as well as an integrated exhaust manifold, and a high-pressure (200 bar) fuel supply. Laser-drilled injectors deliver precise quantities of fuel into the cylinders to accurately control combustion, delivering instantaneous accelerative responses and contributing to the engine’s high efficiency and low fuel consumption.
Safety and body
The new Picanto is the safest A-segment car Kia has ever made, featuring double the proportion of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) compared to the outgoing model and a selection of active safety technologies.
With a stronger body than ever before, 44% of the new Kia Picanto’s bodyshell is cast in AHSS (up from 22 per cent), reducing body-in-white weight by 23 kg while improving tensile strength by 12 per cent. The new, stronger steel has been used to reinforce the floor pan, roof rails and engine bay, as well as the A- and B-pillars, strengthening the core structure of the car. The new bodyshell also uses more than eight times the quantity of structural adhesive found in the outgoing model (67 metres of joins throughout the structure are now reinforced with the adhesive). Overall, static torsional stiffness has been improved by 32 per cent.
The stronger, lighter body is supported by six standard airbags (front, front side and curtain airbags), and an optional knee airbag, as well as a range of active safety features. These include standard Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) to ensure stability under braking and cornering, detecting a loss in traction and using ESC to help the driver keep the car on course.
In addition, the new Picanto will be available with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) – a key technology adopted to enhance safety in the predominantly city and urban environments in which the majority of customers drive their Picanto. An indirect Tyre Pressure Monitoring System is also available.
On-sale
Maintaining the value for money and high quality that has made the current-generation Kia Picanto so popular, the all-new Picanto will be sold as standard with Kia’s unique 7-Year, 100,000m warranty when it goes on-sale across Europe from the start of Q2 2017.
Worldwide, more than 1.4 million of the current-generation Picanto have been sold since it was launched in 2011, with more than 300,000 of those sold in Europe. Despite the car approaching the end of its lifecycle in showrooms, Kia sold more than 55,000 Picanto models in Europe in 2016, representing year-on-year sales growth of 3 per cent. Exterior design The all-new Kia Picanto has been created by Kia's design centres in Namyang, Korea and Frankfurt, Germany, collaborating to design a youthful, energetic look. Briefed to produce an innovative, bold and fun-looking urban city car, designers have followed up on the mandate to full effect, giving the new Picanto a more assertive stance with bolder body lines. With the wheelbase extended to 2,400 mm (an increase of 15 mm), the wheels have been pushed further out to the corners of the car for a 25 mm shorter front overhang, making the car look more planted on the road. Strong, straight lines run horizontally across the front of the car, emphasising the 'tiger-nose' grille and angular new wrap-around headlamps. Vertical lines that encompass the side intakes and lower grille enhance the Picanto's more confident new 'face'. In profile, the new Kia Picanto is characterised by distinctive lines running along the side skirts, shoulder and around the wheel arches, and subtly-sculpted body surfacing - again, each helping to create a more confident on-road design and visually 'stretching' the car for a greater sense of ride stability - although the Picanto is no longer than the outgoing model, at 3,595 mm in length.
The new model adopts Kia's wide C-pillar as a design motif, which stands more upright than that of the previous model. Combined with a longer rear overhang - up 10 mm, to 520 mm - for a more assured posture. The all-new Picanto will offers buyers greater potential for customisation than ever before, with a choice of 11 vibrant paint finishes designed to make the car stand out. Among the six new colours available to buyers are 'Lime Light', 'Shiny Red', 'Aurora Black' 'Pop Orange', 'Sparkling Silver' and 'Celestial Blue' pearlescent metallic paint finishes. The Picanto is fitted with 14-inch steel wheels in its most basic form, and customers can select one of four aluminium alloy wheel designs, ranging from 14-inch to 16-inch in diameter. The exterior of the Kia Picanto is also complemented by new projection headlamps with LED indicators and LED daytime running lights, and, from Q3 2017, a subtle shark-fin antenna on the roof to replace the existing aerial. For the first time, Kia will also offer the Picanto in a new 'GT-Line' specification, inspired by the sportier appearance of the company's higher-performance 'GT' models, such as the Optima GT. In GT-Line specification, the exterior of the new Picanto is completed with red, silver and black highlights in the grille, side intakes, along the side skirts and in the rear valance, as well as chrome-tipped twin exhausts.
Interior design Inside the new Picanto, Kia designers have created a more modern, refined cabin than the second-generation model, with new materials and layout adding a greater sense of quality for occupants. The predominantly horizontal design adds greater visual width to the interior, highlighting the increased cabin dimensions. The dashboard layout is now more centrally aligned, with a large 7.0-inch 'floating' touchscreen HMI (human-machine interface) sitting at the heart of the centre console and moving many of the car's controls further up into the driver's line of sight. A satin chrome-effect strip runs across the dashboard for a higher quality ambience, and large, vertical air vents at either end 'bookend' the front passenger compartment.
Inside, the new Picanto provides occupants with more leg- and head-room than best-selling rivals in the A-segment, while a lower step height makes for easier ingress and egress. The base of the dashboard has been moved upwards by 15 mm for greater knee and leg space for front passengers. The new Picanto is available with either four or five seats, with the rear bench split into either two or three seats depending on buyer preference (1.2-litre models are five-seat only). Beneath the sun visors in the front of the cabin, the vanity mirror also features bright new LED lights and a strip of mood lighting. By providing the surrounding glow of a make-up room mirror, the Kia Picanto's new vanity mirror makes it easier for occupants to apply make-up, check their hair-style, or adjust their hat, scarf or tie. The new Picanto is the first car in its class to offer buyers torque vectoring by braking - an additional function of the Electronic Stability Control system (ESC; see 'Safety'). The adoption of this new technology for an A-segment car means the Picanto retains a higher degree of handling stability and security under cornering, while helping to reduce understeer during harder cornering.
Engines and transmissions Underpinning the all-new Kia Picanto's quicker, more responsive steering is a range of highly efficient small-capacity petrol engines. Serving to minimise the weight over the front axle, the downsized engine line-up also delivers the sprightly acceleration and immediate powertrain responses that customers expect of an urban car. Three petrol engines will be available to buyers. The 1.0-litre and 1.25-litre naturally-aspirated multi-point injection (MPI) engines have been carried over from the outgoing Picanto, with a range of enhancements to improve efficiency and driveability. From Q4 2017, Kia's new 1.0-litre T-GDI (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) power unit will also be available, offering turbocharged petrol performance in the Picanto for the first time ever. All engines are paired with a five-speed manual transmission, delivering power to the front wheels. Idle Stop & Go is available on certain manual models, while the 1.25-litre MPI engine is also available with a four-speed automatic transmission. The 1.0-litre MPI engine provides the entry point into the Picanto range, producing 67 ps at 5,500 rpm and 96 Nm torque. The most fuel efficient engine available to Picanto buyers, the 1.0-litre unit is capable of producing just 89 g/km of carbon dioxide (four-seat model; New European Drive Cycle, combined), down from 95 g/km on the outgoing model (a 6.3 per cent reduction). Upgrades to the engine include a new exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head, and a new cooling system with shut-off valve, reducing the time it takes the engine to warm-up from a cold start. A new two-stage oil pump also reduces mechanical friction. The mid-range 1.25-litre MPI produces peak power of 84 ps, and 122 Nm of torque. Kia Picanto models with this engine will emit 104 g/km of CO2 on the combined cycle, compared with 106 g/km for the existing Picanto. For its application in the new Picanto, Kia engineers have optimized the valve timing of the engine's dual CVVT (continuously-variable valve timing) system, and have also adopted a similar new cooling system and shut-off valve to the 1.0-litre MPI engine. New low-friction coated piston rings also help to reduce cylinder friction for greater efficiency. The 1.0-litre T-GDI engine, available in the Picanto for the first time, produces 100 ps and 172 Nm torque, the highest power and torque outputs ever offered in Kia's A-segment model. The engine features a single-scroll turbocharger for instant acceleration, as well as an integrated exhaust manifold, and a high-pressure (200 bar) fuel supply. Laser-drilled injectors deliver precise quantities of fuel into the cylinders to accurately control combustion, delivering instantaneous accelerative responses and contributing to the engine's high efficiency and low fuel consumption.
Safety and body The new Picanto is the safest A-segment car Kia has ever made, featuring double the proportion of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) compared to the outgoing model and a selection of active safety technologies. With a stronger body than ever before, 44% of the new Kia Picanto's bodyshell is cast in AHSS (up from 22 per cent), reducing body-in-white weight by 23 kg while improving tensile strength by 12 per cent. The new, stronger steel has been used to reinforce the floor pan, roof rails and engine bay, as well as the A- and B-pillars, strengthening the core structure of the car. The new bodyshell also uses more than eight times the quantity of structural adhesive found in the outgoing model (67 metres of joins throughout the structure are now reinforced with the adhesive). Overall, static torsional stiffness has been improved by 32 per cent. The stronger, lighter body is supported by six standard airbags (front, front side and curtain airbags), and an optional knee airbag, as well as a range of active safety features. These include standard Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) to ensure stability under braking and cornering, detecting a loss in traction and using ESC to help the driver keep the car on course. In addition, the new Picanto will be available with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) - a key technology adopted to enhance safety in the predominantly city and urban environments in which the majority of customers drive their Picanto. An indirect Tyre Pressure Monitoring System is also available. On-sale Maintaining the value for money and high quality that has made the current-generation Kia Picanto so popular, the all-new Picanto will be sold as standard with Kia's unique 7-Year, 100,000m warranty when it goes on-sale across Europe from the start of Q2 2017.
