Kia’s revamped ‘Picanto’ debuts

Thursday, 29 September 2011 00:26 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

Revolutionary motoring design combined with superlative performance has raised the bar in the local compact ‘city car’ segment with the launch of the new generation ‘Kia Picanto,’ the new global automotive innovation from the top Korean car manufacturer which was introduced to Sri Lanka yesterday.

Stand-out styling that exudes solidity and maturity, consistent with Kia’s description of a ‘small car all grown up,’ has been backed up with advanced safety features, eco-friendly technology and an array of class-leading personalised options in the completely re-designed and re-engineered new five-door Picanto.

The new Picanto which made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show this year will be offered at Rs. 1.65 million upwards (exclusive of VAT) and a three year/100,000 km warranty.

Describing the Picanto as the ultimate compact urban car, Kia Motors (Lanka) Limited Managing Director Mahen Thambiah said: “The new Picanto is about being stylish without being excessively so and we are confident that its sophisticated appeal will be extremely well received in Sri Lanka. With the very competitive price that has been set for the Picanto, we expect that the demand for this vehicle will exceed supply as with the previous models and that it will be as successful as our SUVs and other cars have been so far.”

He assured that Kia Motors would do its very best to meet the demand from consumers with an adequate supply of the latest model and confidently added that as one of the most demanded and popular brands in the country, Kia plans on investing heavily in new service and sales facilities in the near future.

“Our primary objective is now towards the service segment and we plan on having two service centres ready by next year as we understand our commitment to our customers and although we have been managing so far, it is time to take such measures,” he explained.

Available with either five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmissions according to customer preferences, the new Picanto complements other aspects with solid performance credentials. Apart from extensively enhancing its appearance, the re-engineering of the new Picanto has further strengthened its safety credentials. The car has been awarded a Four Star rating from the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), a voluntary vehicle safety rating system recognised by motoring and consumer organisations in every EU country.

In addition to this, the strength of the body and frame of the Picanto has been increased for steering stability, to absorb energy better and to provide protection in the event of a collision and in the sphere of eco-friendliness too the vehicle possesses strong credentials.

The introduction of the Picanto comes on the heels of the launches of the Kia ‘Optima’ and ‘Sportage’ models earlier this year and Kia plans on unleashing on Sri Lanka yet another new model before the end of this year, the Kia ‘Rio’ – a five-door hatchback.