Kia launches new three-door Picanto 15 | 08 | 2011
KIA HAS LAUNCHED a three-door version of the Picanto which will enter the Scottish dealership network on September 1, just in time for the 61-plate registration. It's the first time the Korean manufacturer has introduced a three-door model into the UK; the new range will start from £7795.
The addition of the new model to the Picanto range is simply down to the growing size of the three-door A segment market in Europe.
Take a deep breath: globally the market for Picanto-sized cars in 2014 will be around 2.4 million. By 2015 – well within the second-generation Picanto’s life cycle – that will have grown to 3.3m.
Around a million of these will be three-door cars. By not having a three-door model in the Picanto range, Kia would immediately have nothing to offer 30% of buyers.
It's also worth noting that in the UK the importance of the three-door car is even more pronounced: the sales split between body styles in the A-segment is a very slim 55:45 in favour of five-door models.
See more photographs of the new three-door Picanto
Kia has opted to give the three-door range — which comes with Kia’s seven-year warranty — its own colour schemes and trim structure that reflect its role as the sportier model in the range.
The entry-level model – badged Picanto 1 or, with air conditioning, Picanto 1 Air – comes with all-black upholstery. Further up the model range, the models are called Halo and Equinox rather than 2 and 3. Halo has black and grey interior trim, while Equinox is finished in ‘chilli’ red.
There's a choice of four exterior colours — depending on engine and trim combination — and alloy wheels are standard on all but ‘1’ and ‘1 Air’ grade cars.
The three-door Picanto offers new 1.0- and 1.25-litre petrol engines, which deliver fuel economy of up to 67.3mpg with CO2 emissions as low as 99g/km. The larger engine is available with Kia’s Intelligent Stop & Go engine stop/start system – or, alternatively, with automatic transmission.
Prices start at £7795 for the entry-level Picanto 1.0 and rise to £12,295 for the range-topping 1.25 Halo Auto.
Read our road test of the Kia Sportage
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Jim McGill