THE BIGGER PIC(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 57

This heavily improved version of the third generation Kia Picanto is a little citycar that's still big in importance for its Korean maker. This facelifted model is more stylish and up to date inside, yet still frugal and practical. In this form, it'll continue to redefine the way many people think about this smallest category of car.

Background word count: 279

Here's how we used to understand small car categorisation and the difference between Fiesta-sized superminis and their smaller, cheaper citycar counterparts. You paid extra for a supermini because it was slightly bigger, because it was better finished and more stylish and because it had more refined engines that made possible longer journeys. So where does that kind of thinking leave us with a product like this, the improved version of the third generation Kia Picanto? This design has been on sale in various forms since 2017 and competes with the kinds of models we'd see as citycars, yet boasts the kind of interior space a supposedly bigger Peugeot 208 or Vauxhall Corsa had until quite recently. It's very nicely built and acceptably stylish. And yes, it's quite at home attempting longer journeys. Here is the citycar, all grown-up. Where that leaves today's supermini sector is something we don't have to worry about here. Suffice it to say that most of what you'd pay up to £20,000 or more for in that class of car is delivered by this Kia. Other urban runabouts that have previously advanced that argument have either been expensive and/or three-door only, like say a Fiat 500, or have felt too cheap and noisy to really justify themselves as only-car transport, like a Suzuki Ignis or, perhaps, a Hyundai i10. We mention the Hyundai because that essentially is what this Picanto is underneath. Kia has used the underpinnings from this best-selling design, then refined them, improved the build quality and now added a sharp new suit of clothes on top. On paper, a pretty effective route to creating a class-leading contender. Let's see if it's worked.