(February 16, 2017) The all-new Kia Picanto city car has been revealed to European media for the first time ahead of its public debut at the 2017 Geneva International Motor Show in March. The new Picanto will go on sale across Europe this spring. Now in its third-generation, the new Kia Picanto brings a more youthful and energetic character to the A-segment. Boasting an assertive new design and a high-quality, high-tech new cabin, the latest model also offers buyers greater potential for customization and promises to be the most versatile car in its class.

The new Picanto will be powered by one of three gas engines, including Kia’s new 1.0-liter turbocharged gasoline direct injection (T-GDI) power unit. When the new 1.0-liter T-GDI engine goes on sale during the fourth quarter 2017, it will be the most powerful engine ever offered in the Picanto, and the first time this car has offered a turbocharged gas engine.

Michael Cole, Chief Operating Officer of Kia Motors Europe, comments: “The Picanto is one of Kia’s best-selling models around the world, and has a particularly strong fan base here in Europe.

“Our European customers have told us that they love the design of the outgoing Picanto. They love its low running costs, its compact dimensions for city driving, and the high level of equipment available for the money. The new model retains these strengths, and now offers a new level of dynamism and performance, as well as introducing the latest technologies for in-car connectivity and enhanced safety. For these reasons we are confident that the new Picanto will help us further build our profile and market share in this very competitive segment.”

Underpinning the all-new Picanto’s quicker, more responsive steering is a range of highly efficient small-capacity petrol engines. Serving to minimize the weight over the front axle, the downsized engine line-up also delivers the sprightly acceleration and immediate powertrain responses that customers expect of an urban car.

Three gas engines will be available to buyers. The 1.0-liter and 1.25-liter naturally-aspirated multi-point injection (MPI) engines have been carried over from the outgoing Picanto, with a range of enhancements to improve efficiency and drivability. Kia’s new 1.0-liter T-GDI (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) power unit will also be available, offering turbocharged gas performance in the Picanto for the first time ever.

All engines are paired with a five-speed manual transmission, delivering power to the front wheels. Idle Stop & Go is available on certain manual models, while the 1.25-liter MPI engine is also available with a four-speed automatic transmission.

The 1.0-liter MPI engine provides the entry point into the Picanto range, producing 66 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 71 pound-feet of torque. Upgrades to the engine include a new exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head, and a new cooling system with shut-off valve, reducing the time it takes the engine to warm-up from a cold start. A new two-stage oil pump also reduces mechanical friction.

Worldwide, more than 1.4 million of the current-generation Picanto have been sold since it was launched in 2011, with more than 300,000 of those sold in Europe. Despite the car approaching the end of its lifecycle in showrooms, Kia sold more than 55,000 Picanto models in Europe in 2016, representing year-on-year sales growth of three per cent.

The all-new Picanto has been created by Kia’s design centers in Namyang, Korea, and Frankfurt, Germany, collaborating to design a youthful, energetic look.

Briefed to produce an innovative, bold and fun-looking urban city car, designers have followed up on the mandate to full effect, giving the new Picanto a more assertive stance with bolder body lines.

With the wheelbase extended to 94.4 inches (an increase of half an inch), the wheels have been pushed further out to the corners of the car for an inch shorter front overhang, making the car look more planted on the road. Strong, straight lines run horizontally across the front of the car, emphasizing the ‘tiger-nose’ grille and angular new wrap-around headlights. Vertical lines that encompass the side intakes and lower grille enhance the Picanto’s more confident new "face.".

In profile, the new Picanto is characterized by distinctive lines running along the side skirts, shoulder and around the wheel arches, and subtly-sculpted body surfacing – again, each helping to create a more confident on-road design and visually ‘stretching’ the car for a greater sense of ride stability – although the Picanto is no longer than the outgoing model, at 141 inches in length.

The new model adopts Kia’s wide C-pillar as a design motif, which stands more upright than that of the previous model. Combined with a longer rear overhang for a more assured posture.

The exterior of the Picanto is also complemented by new projection headlights with LED indicators and LED daytime running lights and from tird quarter 2017, a subtle shark-fin antenna on the roof to replace the existing aerial.

For the first time, Kia will also offer the Picanto in a new ‘GT-Line’ specification, inspired by the sportier appearance of the company’s higher-performance ‘GT’ models, such as the Optima GT. In GT-Line specification, the exterior of the new Picanto is completed with red, silver and black highlights in the grille, side intakes, along the side skirts and in the rear valance, as well as chrome-tipped twin exhausts.