Since 2017 the Kia Picanto hatchback has been running in its new, third-gen version in foreign markets. Now, photos have appeared online that reveal absolutely undisguised the Picanto mid-cycle facelift. A fast refresher for those unaware, the Kia Picanto is sharing the architecture with the globally marketed Hyundai i10. It is also nearly similar in dimension, rendering it marginally bigger than the Hyundai Grand i10 Nios on sale in India.
From these images, we can see that the new Picanto features a number of up front changes, including new headlight design, tiger nose grille, air intakes, fog lights and a more aggressive bumper. Including the latest LED features in the tail-light modules, a latest bumper and exhaust style, the hatchback’s rear also sports several minor improvements. But the hatchback’s overall concept has stayed unchanged.
The workings of the facelifted Picanto are not well understood. Nevertheless, the motors only operating on hatchback are expected to be taken forward by Kia on foreign markets. Those involve a 67hp/95Nm, 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine, 83hp, 1.25-liter four-cylinder machine and a turbocharged 99hp, 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine. The three-cylinder mills do get a 5-speed manual in terms of gearbox choices while the four-cylinder machine always gets the option of a 4-speed automatic as well.
Although at the 2018 Auto Expo Kia unveiled the Picanto hatchback in India, Kia did not make any announcements about the hatchback and is unlikely to introduce the Picanto to our market right now, as the company is primarily focused on SUVs and MPVs in our country. The well-received Seltos SUV and Carnival MPV has already been released by Kia, with the next big launch being the Sonet compact SUV which will arrive later this year.
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