It's about the right time to celebrate two decades since the nameplate's introduction, so Kia is showcasing the first photos and releasing initial details regarding the fourth iteration of the Picanto city car. The focus, at the moment, is on the "bold new look" for the GT-Line trim.
The first pictures of the 2024 Kia Picanto leaked almost a month ago, revealing what felt like a ridiculous-looking Sportage-inspired styling – with most questions arising in relation to the new front end. Well, this shrunken Sportage is not a copycat, that's for sure, as the NQ5 fifth-gen crossover SUV features a lot more sweeping lines while the Picanto, for lack of space, has to make do with a host of creases and edges. Anyway, it's going to be controversial, that's for sure.
At first sight, one might claim that the all-new Picanto GT-Line follows the conventions of split-headlight design – but it's just a ruse that will easily be debunked when seen up close and personal instead from afar. As it turns out, Kia deployed a stacked headlight unit instead, which only gives the initial impression of split headlights. From the side, though, it's a city car through and through, as not much can be done with so little real estate to work with. The rear, meanwhile, is sharp and edgy – but in a good way. Also, the taillights are connected across the (small) width of the vehicle in the most fashionable way possible without spending too much on an actual LED light bar.
This "eye-catching" design – penned under the 'Opposites United' design philosophy, also includes a large wheel choice – 14-inch through 16-inch alloy models, and among the nine exterior hues, no less than four are also new: Signal Red, Smoke Blue, Sporty Blue, and Adventurous Green. Moving inside, the color choice starts with black cloth seats, upgrades to an optional Glossy Black finish, and the cockpit can also be treated to a new choice of Adventurous Green and Rich Brown packs. Standard tech perks include a 4.2-inch high-resolution driver display seconded by an eight-inch 'floating' touchscreen navigation system with multi-connection Bluetooth, plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Additional highlights include Kia Connect with the companion app, Online Voice Recognition, and OTA upgrades for the infotainment system.
Under the hood, there's a choice between a 1.0- and 1.2-liter gasoline engine featured with a five-speed manual transmission or Kia's Automated Manual Transmission (AMT), also with just five gears. Safety is also a priority, and there's a wide range of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), from Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist 1.5 (FCA) with vehicle, cyclist, and pedestrian detection to Intelligent Speed Limit Assist (ISLA) and Lane Following Assist (LFA) plus six airbags around the cabin. That said, we fully expect Hyundai to introduce its all-new i10 soon, perhaps with a tamer styling to cater to city car traditionalists.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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