Kia Picanto

Facelifted Kia baby unveiled

The wraps are off Kia's new Picanto! Take a look at the facelifted city car, which will hit UK dealers this autumn

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Ross Pinnock

05th June 2007

It gets a distinctive design with a smaller grille and restyled lights. They bring the five-door into line with the firm's new Cee'd family car.

A fresh front bumper with circular foglamps completes the changes at the front. Other neat details include a reprofiled bonnet and indicator repeaters mounted in the door mirrors.

At the back, the car has a revised bumper and tail-light clusters with a circular design. There's also a new range of alloy wheels to choose from, too. Changes to the bodywork add 4cm to the overall length of the Picanto. Inside, the car gets a restyled dashboard, which includes new controls for the ventilation, plus an integrated stereo. But the company has opted against introducing soft-touch plastics as this would push costs up.

The engine line-up is unchanged too, with a choice of 1.0 and 1.1-litre petrol motors. Kia has also developed an ultra-frugal 1.1-litre diesel powerplant for the car. It is capable of 67mpg and boasts CO2 emissions of only 112g/km, but top brass have yet to confirm if the 75bhp three-cylinder oil-burner will reach UK dealers.

The new Picanto will be unveiled at next month's Barcelona Motor Show in Spain. While prices for the range have yet to be confirmed, it is expected that they will be on a similar level to those of the current car.