The facelifted Kia Picanto has arrived in Malaysia, albeit quietly. The refreshed second-gen TA has been spotted at some Kia dealerships in the country – the photos seen here are courtesy of Aaron Ong, who posted them to the Kia Picanto Owners Club Malaysia FB page.
Word is that there’s no official launch, but it’s reported to be the same price as the pre-facelift, going for RM61,888 on-the-road with insurance. Dealers are also reporting that there will only be very few cars available as of now (as little as 12, we’ve been told), with distributor Naza still deciding on whether to bring in more units.
The updated A-segment hatch was unveiled in January last year ahead of a Geneva debut, and from a regional perspective was introduced in Indonesia last August. Not much in the revision, with minor changes to the exterior coming in the form of new front and rear fascias.
The front bumper is now more rounded, and the already-massive lower grille has been made even larger, while the “tiger nose” upper grille has also been reshaped. The car also gets projector halogen headlights with LED daytime running lights, and the fog lights are now projector units, housed in reprofiled surrounds.
At the back, there are LED tail lights, while the bumper has been squared off, with fog and reverse lights reshaped to fit the new profiling. With the facelift, our market receives the neat “telephone dial” dual-tone alloy wheel design that was previously offered in other markets, but retain the 15-inch diameter.
The interior doesn’t get many changes either. The instrument cluster features new meter graphics, a circular centre multi-info display and silver trim, while the trip computer and reset buttons have been relocated to the steering wheel, which also sees the steering-mounted audio controls being rejigged – it’s been done to accommodate the new buttons for the new cruise control system, though that’s unavailable in Malaysia.
Fewer control buttons are to be seen on the head unit, and new silver trim can be found dressing the air vents, along with a revised gearlever gate for the four-speed automatic transmission.
No mechanical changes, the car continuing with the familiar 1.25 litre Kappa II Dual CVVT four-pot producing an unchanged 87 PS and 120 Nm. Previously, the car was offered with four-speed automatic and five-speed manual transmission options, but word is that the manual has been dropped for the facelift.
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Looks cute, but pricing at 61k seriously ? many other choices for A segment car ….. Perodua n Proton, in fact could almost get a bare spec Nissan Almera by adding a few thousand. Not to mention the resale value of Picanto, maybe if they named it Kia Pokemon Go ….. LOL
How in the world are you complaining about a CKD import that costs 62k with 6 airbags and a suite of safety features – but will readily pay 50k for a Perodua Beca with 2 airbags and ABS?
And this dear Malaysians, is why this is a country of dedak-eaters.
*Pardon my directness – but it seems you don’t understand cars. 62k vs 50k is about RM100/month difference on a 7 year car loan. The issue here is not about that RM100 difference, but rather the fact that the Kia Picanto would cost 40k if Malaysia had an open car market. The fact that Malaysians are not complaining and fighting for these things makes them dedak eaters.*
With discounts u can get the Picanto price very close to the new P2 car price tag.
perodua bezza 1.3 advance also got similar spec, 6 air bag, vsc, esc, push start, isofix
Facelife or not, who cares…? Who Msian buy overpriced junk…?
Smart malaysian did buy this car
Lol if you want to buy it than go ahead buy it you want to waste a lot of money in a small tiny car than ok la very smart Malaysian
The funny thing is that, this car cost RM61k but has got 6 airbags. Our Government crony UMW sells Camry for RM160k, not only got no VSC but got only 2 airbags. And global price of Camry is only US$22k and that car comes standard with 10 airbags
Do toyota of Japan allow UMW to strip VSC and 8 airbags from the car just to make more untung?
Just collected my newly bought two years ago Picanto today. This little cute car with big smiley grill isn’t exactly the car you would take it for a spin, but it won’t let you down if you do so. I admit Iriz manual drives better, but this little fun box is so well equipped till it puts many C and D segment cars in shame. Even though operating on manual tranny won’t remind you of those high performance car but its relaxing gear shift and light clutch is gonna change your perception on manual gearbox during slow crawling traffic. I’m afraid there is no contender at the price range after massive rebate given to the manual variant last year.
Newly bought two years ago?
i guess he means he bought it new instead of 2nd hand?
No wonder car like toyotaik n beca sell well when there are still customer like this here in MY. We can demand better car with better spec.
Still no new i10?
What? KIA? Buy Toyota better, good RV. Kimchi’s KIA-Hyundai & nasik lemak proton car is bad RV..
Hyundai-Kia have evolved into a reliable automaker – Above-average styling, reliable components, below-average performance. I drive a Kia, have had no major issues, its reliable and good enough. But no way I’d seek out another Hyun/Kia purposely. My next car would still be judged against the market.
But, I’d say, this is a much better purchase than any Perodua/Proton. Better second-hand.
Without the punishing tax regime, this would be 40k. But you still want your Perodua Beca and Proton Sawi, so carry on eating dedak.
Unchanged means not selling.
10k too expensive
Such a good fully specced car… Bt its abit overpriced , considering the top spec Iriz with same spec n safety featues sells way lower than that…. It was hot seller not long ago bcos of 20k discounts for the 2015 model, i guess that stock has ran out… Bt i can say, its one of the best small cars u can get actually, if the price is not an issue…
Reduce the price by 20k and manual gearbox must be retained:)
Safer than Bisa. At least kimchi overlords dun treat MY pipu lives like livestock.
Bisa Bisa Bisa,
Sekali Kena,
KO Semua,
Keluarga Merana,
Kerana Bisa!
That mouth though… why?! Does it have a twin turbo it needs to cool? No? Then close your mouth, mouth breather! It’s getting ridiculous.
That is called style.
Wait for the massive discounts, KIA has been giving close to RM12K for those whom which to buy this picante, at those discounts it becomes much more worth it to get on especially with all that safety equipment on board & those getting A segment cars.
I will buy any car, so long it is not proton….
I heard wooden boxes and 6 ft under is the new thing in sg choh.
It’s like saying you’re giving up on a kid just because the previous generations gave the family a bad name.
It’s also like saying all Jesse/Jessie and James are killers just because Jesse James was a ruthless one.
And that ladies and gents, is generalising. It’s like saying all Malays are lazy, all Indians are drunkards and all Chinese are con men [I don’t care if you’re offended by this example]
A word of advice:
Do not hate someone because of what he/she did, but hate what he/she did and help that someone to be a better person.
I’m saying like this because I’m hoping one day we’ll get someone to Proton like Mueller is to MAS. He did some really good clean up.
Wrong comparison. Kids can change. Not a kid that collects billions but still expects more billions to suck on mommy daddy. I question your patriotism as a Malaysian for still supporting proton junk.
Actually this car is not really affordable in Malaysia in other country well maybe is not that bad