Kia is getting closer to revealing its facelifted Picanto small car, but now we have seen a pretty accurate render of what to expect.
The Picanto is set to gain a very similar vertical LED headlight design as seen on one of Kia’s newest products: the Kia EV9 large SUV.
New alloy wheel designs are also set to change up the look of the Picanto for 2023, along with a revised tail light shape, too.
A 2023 Kia Picanto facelift render. Credit: SRK Designs
Chasing Cars understands that the facelift will launch in Australia in the second half of 2023.
Will the Picanto gain any more performance?
The Kappa II T-GDI 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine available in the current Picanto GT flagship makes 74kW of power and 172Nm of torque, but this is a detuned version of the engine.
The current Kia Picanto GT
In other Hyundai-Kia vehicles, such as the Hyundai i20, Hyundai Kona and the Kia Stonic, this 1.0-litre engine is capable of producing a higher 88kW, if with the same 172Nm of torque.
This means that the facelifted Picanto GT could potentially get the full 88kW tune while retaining its manual transmission.
Picanto GT’s 1.0-litre turbo-triple could do with a little more grunt!
Kia Australia’s general manager of product planning, Roland Rivero, told Chasing Cars in December 2022 that “the Picanto will be with us for a long time yet. We see Picanto as a very important product.”
This was said even after small car offerings such as the Ford Fiesta and Mitsubishi Mirage were dropped from Australian showrooms as customers flock increasingly towards SUVs.