Currently reading: 2017 Kia Picanto spotted in the metal

Kia’s next city car will get a more sporting look, akin to that of the new Rio, when it goes on sale in the second half of 2017

The 2017 Kia Picanto has been spotted in the flesh, ahead of its official reveal at the Geneva motor show. It's the first real look at the car we've had; so far Kia has only released detailed design sketches previewing the look of the new city car.

2017 Kia Picanto revealed in full

The Picanto, which is also known as the Morning in certain Asian markets, was previously revealed in design sketches released by Kia, showing a new front-end design similar to that of the upcoming new Rio. These new images first surfaced on a Facebook fan page

Kia’s rival to the Volkswagen Up and Ford Ka+ will be offered in five-door form only, following slow sales of the three-door version of the outgoing car. The new model will be revealed in full at the Geneva motor show in March, before sales commence in the summer.

The decision to drop the three-door Picanto, coupled with Kia’s launch of the Rio as a five-door only modesuggests a move away from small three-door cars for the brand. A Kia spokesman also pointed out that the Picanto was the first car in the city car segment to be offered as a five-door.

Inside, a simple interior also draws heavily from the Rio supermini, with a dominant central infotainment touchscreen flanked by piano black gloss trim and mounted high atop a considerably less button-heavy dashboard. A raft of technology and safety features new to the Picanto will feature.

On the outside, intricate LED headlights incorporate the grille accents into their design, while contrasting coloured trim appears behind the grille, in the lower air intakes and along the sides of the car on higher-end trims. The rear of the car retains major styling features of the current Picanto. 

Kia says the new Picanto will be available with a greater range of personalisation options, as is evident from the colour accents on the exterior and interior.

We expect to see a slight increase in price for the new Picanto, so entry-level cars will likely start from around £9000.

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Chris C 3 January 2017

Picanto

Probably showing my age but that nose immediately reminds me of a sea monster from Stingray.... What on earth did they reject to select that as the best option?
abkq 3 January 2017

Nowadays, the design of the

Nowadays, the design of the front of a car requires at least two layers - the upper layer with grille + headlamps, the lower layer with air intake + auxiliary lights. This Kia once again shows that the two layers don't go together. Did Peter Schreyer - designer of the original Audi TT - approve this design?
superstevie 23 December 2016

On these images, looks like a

On these images, looks like a big facelift rather than an all new car. I've always had a soft spot for the current car, its a decent looking city car. Neighbour has one and he really likes it.