The current Kia Picanto is pretty much due for a replacement – we may have only gotten the stylish Korean city car in 2013, but it’s been on sale worldwide since 2011, and received a facelift last year. Thankfully, Kia is now developing a successor, as can be seen from these photos from our European spies.
At first glance, the new car looks similar to the existing TA generation, but a closer look reveals a few new details. The (likely optional) projector headlights now feature unbroken strips of LED daytime running lights – the current one uses individual diodes. The front fascia with a large downturned lower grille also appears to be more aggressive-looking than the current car’s cheery face.
Along the side, the first-gen Picanto’s upward window line kink at the rear makes an appearance here (current car’s is straight). Moving towards the rear, there are C-shaped LED tail lights like we get on our Picanto, although the clear portion indicates that the reverse lights could move up from its current position in the rear bumper to be integrated into the tail lights.
Details are pretty scarce, but like the latest Hyundai i10, expect the new Picanto to be larger in all directions than the current car, with the chief beneficiary likely being boot space to address a key shortcoming of the TA.
The interior should also become more upscale to better compete against the likes of the Volkswagen up! – through the spyshots, we can see what appears to be a new three-spoke steering wheel, replacing the current two-spoke unit.
As for the mechanicals, the Picanto should retain the current 1.0 litre three-cylinder and 1.2 litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated Kappa II engines, as well as a 1.0 litre three-pot Kappa TCI turbo. The existing four-speed automatic, five-speed manual and CVT transmissions should also be carried over.
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…….and the last :-P
My son proton saga has better RV.
Axia is that you?