The all new 2017 Kia Picanto will be revealed to the world on March 7 at the Geneva Motor Show. Currently one of the best selling cars from Kia the new Picanto looks set to build on the success of the previous model while giving owners the opportunity to personalise the exterior and interior with a vibrant options list.
Michael Cole, Chief Operating Officer of Kia Motors Europe, comments: “The Picanto is one of Kia’s best-selling models around the world, and has a particularly strong fan base here in Europe.”
“Our European customers have told us that they love the design of the outgoing Picanto. They love its low running costs, its compact dimensions for city driving, and the high level of equipment available for the money. The new model retains these strengths, and now offers a new level of dynamism and performance, as well as introducing the latest technologies for in-car connectivity and enhanced safety. For these reasons we are confident that the new Picanto will help us further build our profile and market share in this very competitive segment.”
With styling completed by Kia’s design centers in Namyang Korea and Frankfurt Germany, the new Picanto looks the goods and now comes with a selection of 6 new colors: Lime Light, Shiny Red, Aurora Black, Pop Orange, Sparkling Silver and Celestial Blue.
In basic trim 14″ steel wheels come standard though owners have the option to choose from 4 alloy wheel designs ranging from 14″ up to 16″. New to the exterior are projection headlights with LED indicators, LED daytime running lights and a shark fin antenna.
Interior styling can also be customised to suit your tastes with 5 optional color packs:
- High Gloss Black – a combination of black, grey and white upholstery with white stitching (and available with a black or grey base colour)
- Brown – brown seats with light blue flashes down the side and light blue stitching
- Blue – navy and true blue artificial leather and cloth upholstery with white and orange stitching
- Red – black and grey seats with red flashes and red stitching
- Lime – grey and light grey upholstery with lime green stitching
The customisation doesn’t stop there with a selection of optional colour pads for the door armrests also on offer.
The 7″ floating touchscreen infotainment display takes center stage inside, placed high up in the drivers view alongside other controls for an emphasis on ease of use. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay make an appearance, an optional wireless smartphone charger and optional reverse camera can be added to further enhance the included tech.
Kia have made a concentrated effort to improve both vibration and noise levels inside the Picanto to further refine the small city car, closing the gap to market leaders.
When it comes to boot space the Kia Picanto has now set the standard with a class leading 255 litres of boot space which can expand up to 1010 liters with the 60:40 seats folded down.
The 3 door variation of the Picanto has been retired with only the 5 door variant available in both 4 and 5 seat configurations.
Improved safety across the range can now be attributed to 6 standard airbags (front, side and curtain) with optional knee airbag, Vehicle Stability Control and Autonomous Emergency Braking.
The engineers at Kia have taken time and resources to improve the handling of the Picanto with numerous geometry changes and the inclusion of braking induced torque vectoring to reduce understeer. Stiffer sway bars front and rear will reduce roll while the steering rack has also been given some love with a quicker lock to lock rack at only 2.8 turns compared to the previous 3.4.
Kia will be offering the Picanto in a new GT-Line specification which includes red, sliver and black highlights in grille, side intakes, along sideskirts and rear valance with chrome tipped twin exhausts for styling improvements and a new 1 litre turbocharged gasoline direct injection (T-GDI) engine producing 74kW and 172Nm of torque. The 49kW/96Nm 1 litre and 62kW/122Nm 1.25 litre naturally aspirated multi-point injected (MPI) engines from the previous model make a return with several efficiency improvements and emissions improvements.
Details on an Australian release have yet to surface but we’re hoping to see the GT spec carry over from the European markets to expand the range of Kia’s most affordable car.
