The 2018 Kia Picanto that was launched last week is the only non-national offering left in the A-segment space. This time around, only one variant is offered, the 1.2 litre EX AT – priced at RM49,888 (OTR without insurance) with a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty.
Under its bonnet is a 1.2 litre Kappa II naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine that makes 84 PS at 6,000 rpm and 122 Nm at 4,000 rpm. This is mated to a four-speed automatic transmission – the five-speed manual from before is no longer available – that drives the front wheels.
Notable features here include the sleek projector halogen headlights with U-shaped LED daytime running lights and LED signal indicators. Kia’s signature “tiger nose” grille has also been widened to meet the headlights. Round the side of this 3,595 mm-long supermini, you’ll find a set of 14-inch alloys, and the back gets a new pair of LED-combination lamps and reverse camera.
While familiar on the outside, the cabin has been completely revamped, and comes with a seven-inch touchscreen head unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support. Safety is comprised of six airbags, ABS with EBD, brake assist and stability control – all of which were already offered on the preceding model.
For now, enjoy the short walk-around tour of the new Picanto. And as an added bonus, we’ve got the older model alongside it to see just how much the little Kia has progressed over time. You may also browse the new model’s full specifications and equipment, only on CarBase.my.
GALLERY: 2018 Kia Picanto
GALLERY: 2018 Kia Picanto with Novus X package
We must thank the previous Picanto. Because it was this car that started the ball moving for everyone to give VSC and 6 airbags.
5 years ago, our previous Picanto gave us VSC and 6 airbags. It brought a lot of shame to gomen owned Proton and Toyota cause their cars had no VSC and just 2 airbags
Thank you Koreans for showing us the way to safety. And thank you Koreans for lowering your Picanto prices.
Amazing our own Proton cannot reduce prices but a Korean car company can reduce prices for Malaysians
Too late Picanto. If u had launched the previous version at this prices, u wud have been the game changing car. Instead, u competed against Csegment Preve and lost kawkaw. And Iriz stamped its mark in history as not only a game changer, it became a market changer that all cars big & small now follow in its footsteps. And all thanks to the incredibly amazing but humble Iriz. MY pipu on the roads r much safer thanks to u.
then why iriz sales are so bad? even proton says 80 percent of their sales come from saga and persona
Iriz is 3rd gen from previos Tiara n Savvy. So u knw lar.
Tbh… this the only car, everybody need to have on their driveway. KIA to surprise
Iriz sales are so bad until they want to make it Grab Uber official car.
Can see many iriz on road, you got eyes prob?
Who said Iriz had bad sales? The CEO said 80% comes from Saga3, IRIZ, & Persona2. Iriz sales tookdown Mivi2 sales so badly that P2 need to throw everything including the kitchen sink into Mivi3 just to claw back the lead. And thats all thanks to Iriz or u will still get dinosar specs from P2 foreva.
RM500/bulan kereta Oppa Korea oo…
Pls show evidence the CEO said 80% sales include Iriz. I checked all archives and CEO never said such a thing. He said 80% comes from Saga, Persona and Ertiga.
So where did you get Iriz from?
Come on. Its in PT archive. Dun be lazy and search urself. Just admit it, Iriz was such a phenomenal car that it paved the way and was THE benchmark for all other small cars to follow. Otherwise u still be driving P2 junks. Oh wait, they still junks.
how can 30 million rakyat be wrong? If P2 is junk, why are sales of just Myvi alone in 2 months same as Proton sales for 1 whole year for ALL its models
Also, Perodua can sell 200,000 cars last year.
Surely rakyat cannot be wrong….oh wai
already searched. 2 weeks ago Proton CEO said 80% sales come from Persona, Saga and Ertiga. No mention of Iriz there.
Still trying to spread fake news?
This!
Sales figure for IRIZ is 100k every year since it’s launch
Will hit 1million sales in no time
True story yo!
Mivi2 sales din even reach 80k for its lifecycle
This sounds like a fake news. Didn’t Perodua recently announce that they just sold 1 million Myvis?
https://paultan.org/2017/06/13/perodua-myvi-reaches-one-million-unit-milestone/
Read what they said, Mivi means all the generations of Mivi lah. So who is fake news now, hmm?
Cannot understand how Myvi sales only 80k in its lifecycle.
Perodua sells at least 100,000 Myvis per year for the past 8 years. That is why Myvi crossed 1 million mark last year.
2018 Myvi 2 month sales equivalent to Proton’s 1 year sales of ALL models
Nope. When tambah Geely sales, its equivalent to 2X whole of MY sales.
Ha ha ha now try to use China and geely name.
We definitely need more mainland china people into Malaysia to treat the brain drain
Impressive infotaiment system. IT use the global platform of UVO. Kudos Kia Malaysia kudo. At least they don’t use aftermarket infotaiment for cheap car.
They din get ori kimchi infotainment, looks like some china made judging from the left side biased controls. Bad choice Kia.
It’s the original Kia system you get elsewhere in the world. Tested it the other day, very nice and intuitive
Really? Either kimchis driver sits on the left or their global infotainment system was lazily sourced from China.
Kimchi drivers indeed sits on the left, such a fact is easily accesible through google but I guess a troll like you wouldn’t bother anyway
Korea is LHD market.
Impressive….it kinda looks really bad in the photos, but great in the video. Guess i’ll take a look in one of the showrooms then.
Kudos to Kia vendors & suppliers for such high quality parts & finishing at such low prices.
I visited kia road show at Ipoh today. I sat inside the kia picanto front seat and found the interior finish quality is very good and the dashboard design looks modern for this price range A-segment model. But only let down is the back seat space…is too small or narrow especially for 180cm people like me…if space and fuel efficiency is ur priority the myvi is the best choice but if looking for something different like handling or engine performance and high quality interior can consider picanto.
i did not have problem sitting behind during the test drive earlier this week in Glenmarie. And I’m 5’11” and 110kg. Somehow rather, i find myself having easier time to enter the Picanto, front and back, compared to the Myvi advance which i test drive immediately after the Picanto..
Really nice liao new Picanto.
Sad thing it won’t be popular, but those that take the leap of faith, I’m sure they’ll be rewarded handsomely by the car’s great performance.
The previous generation wasn’t great in the FC department and I bet this will be the same considering there isn’t any change in the drivetrsin department.
It wasn’t class leading but it wasn’t particularly bad as well. A 1.25l engine can’t get anymore thirsty
I had just put down a downpayment for this car as a replacement to my 308Turbo for city use. Went to test drive this car and the new Myvi Advance and decided that this is a better buy. The build quality, entertainment system, handling and engine response seems to be so much better than the Myvi. The only drawback is lack of ASA which i don’t think is that crucial .
In return for lacking ASA, you gain hot pressed steel that’s far stiffer than Myvi’s high tensile steel. A typical hot pressed steel can have tensile strength of about 1,500+-MPa vs Perodua’s rumored high tensile steel at 590MPa, that’s nearly THREE times stronger.
The interior is more practical too with front central cupholders. The charging port is in better spot too, Perodua’s not good to put it at the side of driver’s seat, many have broken it as can be seen in fb owner’s page.
Whoa. I so want more comments on PT to be like this.
Whats your background?
Holo dude, volvo for u ?
I’m a Geely loyalist?
Tokmoh, I definitely agree with your statement
Unless terms like stress-strain curves, modulus of elasticity, springback and annealing are in ones vocabulary, a simple tensile strength figure comparison between competing steels quoted in isolation is simply marketing hyperbole.
Paging Jonathan Lee to help us find out Picanto’s fc, Jon, what’s your typical fc and traffic condition?
His car is manual though, so a general idea of auto’s fc is perhaps about 1 or 2 km/L lower than his fc.
I have always liked the Picanto even from generation one. That one actually won best small car in the UK by AutoCar Magazine I think.
This new generation seems less sporty compared to the previous one, but you can’t beat that price. Well done, Kia.
Should have a slick shifting manual gearbox. Also, the steering is too big. But nevertheless it’s a great car!
I test drove the picanto and myvi on the same day last Sun. (Kia showroom next to Perodua showroom in Glenmerie).
Quality and refinement in the Kia is another level compared to the Myvi. The myvi itself is good for a perodua, there’s definitely improvements over previous gen, but certain details will still tell you it’s a local car especially the poor nvh and handling.
Downgrading to 14 inch rums is a step back from the previous generation Picanto which had a segment leading 15 inch rims. Maybe that explains the cheaper price tag to stop the onslaught of the new Myvi.
14 inch wheel = less bumpy ride and lower fc
you can upgrade to any 15 inch sport rim anytime as you like
yA… I really don’t like the new rims.. I much prefer the rims on the Picanto GT… those rims look very cool… what happened to Hyundai? They stopped manufacturing the i10 and abandoned this segment?
But at least this time the size is cheaper and easier to replace. This uses 175/65/R14 which is the default size of Myvi, Axia, Bezza, Iriz 1.3, etc.
Previous auto used 175/50/R15, less common and likely pricier to replace. Since majority car owners don’t fix what isn’t broken, the new 14″ wheels is more convenient and cheaper for them, that’s a plus!
Recently Kia launched local-assembled Carnival, with extra goodies. This Picanto is local or imported from where?
No complaint la…it is the most cheapest non national brand nw…within Rm49k price range but a lot better than same segment Axia advance. If compared spec and features with Axia this picanto can say sure win la…but lost to B-segment same price range Myvi premium X.
The interior quality of this KIA Picanto greatly surpasses the Hideous and low grade interior quality of the now useless Jazz GK5 for sure.
Sorry to all butthurt Jazz GK5 owners but it is true.
To all fresh graduates here like myself who cant afford or dislike the Jazz GK5’s poor built quality inside and out, don’t like Perodua’s poor brand image, should get this New Picanto instead.
It carries a reasonable price tag and has decent safety kit and ultimately has very impressive quality compared to Honda’s cheapskate parts throughout the car.
i couldn’t help laughing when i read that it comes with a 4 speeder.
You need a 9 speed gearbox for this tiny city car? Or you intend to use it as a touring car highspeed drive interstate…for that i shall laugh back at you
new myvi tahun 2017 still using 4 speed gear box
malu la
Same engine? previous picanto’s comment on fuel consumption was bad and was much much differ from what had they claimed. New Picanto’s FC also the same or worst?