We all know the Kia Picanto. It’s cute, it’s practical, and it’s actually zippy in the city. It’s also a common sight here in the Philippines due to its affordability.
Why are we talking about the Picanto? That’s because Kia has revealed a new version of the said city car for the 2020 model year and they have given the cute little car several upgrades in terms of aesthetics, as well as on-board tech.
The Picanto is known as the Kia Morning in its home country
2020 Picanto: It’s chic and it’s hip
When it comes to exterior upgrades, Kia has given the Picanto a new grille, which now has this chrome trim, as well as a slat running through the middle.
The headlights have also been redesigned and it now comes with a different looking LED daytime running light. Below those, we also noticed that the bumper now looks more angular than before.
It’s a bit more aggressive compared to the previous look but yes, it still retains that fashionably cute overall shape. Note however that the 2020 Kia Picanto’s rear end is now sportier looking with its very different, more angular rear bumper.
It has the same roofline but check out that front fascia
2020 Picanto: It’s now smarter and safer too
Apart from the aesthetic changes, Kia also gave the 2020 Picanto more in the way of tech, specifically driver-assist features. It can now come with a rear cross-traffic alert system with rear collision prevention, blind-spot monitoring, forward-collision warning, and a lane-keeping assist.
To this end, Kia says that they’re the first car manufacturer to have ever given an A-Segment car these kinds of tech.
Check out that huge touchscreen
As for onboard entertainment, the 2020 Kia Picanto also comes with a new multi-information display with colors, as well as a larger eight-inch touchscreen head unit that comes with Bluetooth connectivity, Kakao voice recognition, and a navigation system that updates itself. And guess what, the new Picanto even gets ventilated seats.
>>> Related: 2020 Kia Picanto vs Honda Brio Comparison: Spec Sheet Battle
2020 Picanto: The same…ish engine
While it appears that the 2020 Picanto comes with the same 1.0-liter inline-3 engine, Kia says that the said engine now comes with Smart Stream technology.
With that, the 2020 Picanto can make 73 horsepower and 77 Nm of torque. The current 1.0 liter Picanto makes 63 horsepower, which is nine less than the new one.
We really hope that the Philippine-spec Picanto will also get these driver assist technologies
As of now, there’s no word yet as to when the new 2020 Kia Picanto will be launched here in the Philippines. But as you already know, the Kia Picanto is a mainstay here in the Philippine automotive market so there’s a high possibility that this new one might get released here.
If not this year, then maybe sometime in the first quarter of 2021, and yes, we’re really excited to see what this updated Picanto can do.
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