2016 Kia Picanto REVIEW – It’s Mostly About The Value With Kia’s Compact Hatchback
KIA'S PICANTO IS GIVING THE KOREAN GIANT AN IMPRESSIVE FIRST SHOT IN THE COMPACT CAR MARKET – HERE, IN THIS SEGMENT, EVERY DOLLAR IS PRECIOUS.
And the Picanto is sharply priced at $14,990 driveway - which it needs to be. Kia was late to the dance with its compact hatchback and its competitors here have a decent head start. (There's an all-new model rumoured to be heading to our shores early 2018).
Strangely, despite new arrivals like the Kia Picanto and Holden Spark - with impressive specifications to underscore their value - light car sales in Australia are continuing to retreat this year (in the seven months ending in July, Micro cars were down by 21.5 per-cent and light cars were down by 16.1 per-cent).
Overall though, Kia is a standout performer in 2016 with sales up by over 28 percent and is now one of our top-10 best-selling automotive brands.
Vehicle Style: Light Hatchback
Price: $14,990 Driveaway
Engine/Trans: 63kW/120Nm 1.2 4cyl | 4sp automatic
Fuel Economy Claimed: 5.3 l/100km | Tested: 6.6 l/100km
OVERVIEW
The Kia Picanto is a car for the European market – where it sells well – and for a long time was a ‘no-go’ for Australia. Fortunately, we now have the current model European Picanto - made in Korea, incidentally - to kick things off until the all-new model’s projected arrival (it launches in Europe next year).
Nevertheless, the current Picanto, a four-door hatchback sold in just one model grade, delivers contemporary looks inside and out, points and steers very well, has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating and is certainly in the elite team when it comes to value-for-money.