2024 Kia Picanto price and specs: No longer Australia’s cheapest car

Kia has published pricing and specifications for its refreshed 2024 Picanto, which has ceded the title of Australia’s cheapest car to the MG 3.

While the base 2023 Picanto S manual started at $16,290 before on-road costs or $18,890 drive-away, the new base 2024 Picanto Sport manual rings up at $17,890 before on-roads ($20,690 drive-away).

The MG 3, in contrast, opens at $19,990 drive-away.

There’s been a substantial increase in standard equipment with the updated Picanto, however.

In the renamed base grade, that includes active blind-spot and rear cross-traffic assists as well as lane-keep and lane-centring systems – all of which can’t be found in the MG 3, which lacks even autonomous emergency braking.

There are also more comfort and convenience features, such as a leatherette-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, power-folding exterior mirrors, and a 4.2-inch instrument cluster screen.

The GT-Line – now the flagship with the axing of the turbocharged GT globally – gets a new design for its 16-inch alloy wheels, plus LED headlights and tail lights, metal sports pedals, and a rear USB-C charging port.

It also features a distinctive look with full-width lighting elements front and rear.

All Picanto models get updated front- and rear-end styling inspired by the larger EV9, but under the bonnet they use the same 1.2-litre four-cylinder powertrain as before.

Though it has the same outputs, combined cycle fuel consumption has increased from 5L to 5.4L per 100km in manual models and from 5.8L to 6L per 100km in automatic models.

Pricing

• 2024 Kia Picanto Sport manual: $17,890 ($20,690 d/a)
• 2024 Kia Picanto Sport auto: $19,490 ($21,690 d/a)
• 2024 Kia Picanto GT-Line manual: $19,690 ($22,490 d/a)
• 2024 Kia Picanto GT-Line auto: $21,290 ($23,490 d/a)

All prices exclude on-road costs unless otherwise noted.

Drivetrains

The 2024 Kia Picanto is powered by a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine producing 62kW of power at 6000rpm and 122Nm of torque at 4000rpm.

It’s mated with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission.

The Picanto is front-wheel drive.

Efficiency

The 2024 Kia Picanto uses 5.4L/100km on the combined cycle with a manual transmission and 6.0L/100km with the auto.

It runs on 91 RON regular unleaded fuel and has a 35L fuel tank.

Dimensions

The 2024 Kia Picanto measures 3595mm long, 1595mm wide and 1485mm tall on a 2400mm wheelbase.

It has 255L of luggage space, expanding to 1010L with the rear seats folded. A space-saver spare sits under the boot floor.

Tare weight is 976kg, or 993kg with the auto.

Servicing and Warranty

Kia backs its cars with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

While it hasn’t released new service pricing for the 2024 Picanto, the outgoing model has seven years of capped-price servicing with intervals of 12 months or 15,000km.

These first seven services cost $285, $467, $341, $511, $321, $584 and $341, respectively.

We’ll update this article when new service pricing becomes available.

Safety

The Kia Picanto currently has a four-star ANCAP rating based on testing conducted in 2017, but this will expire at the end of December 2023.

It received an adult occupant protection rating of 87 per cent, a child occupant protection rating of 64 per cent, a pedestrian protection rating of 54 per cent, and a safety assist rating of 47 per cent.

All Picanto models come standard with the following equipment:

• Autonomous emergency braking with vehicle detection
• Blind-spot assist (NEW)
• Driver attention warning
• Lane-keep assist (NEW)
• Lane Follow Assist (NEW)
• Leading vehicle departure alert
• Rear cross-traffic assist (NEW)
• Rear occupant alert
• Reversing camera
• Rear parking sensors
• Safe exit warning

Standard Equipment

The Sport, formerly known as the S, comes standard with the following equipment:

• 14-inch alloy wheels (NEW)
• Halogen headlights with halogen daytime running lights
• Automatic high-beam
• Automatic headlights
• LED rear fog lights (NEW)
• Remote central locking
• Space-saver spare
• Power-folding exterior mirrors (NEW)
• 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless and wired Android Auto
• 4.2-inch instrument cluster screen (NEW)
• Leatherette-wrapped steering wheel (NEW)
• Leatherette-wrapped shifter (NEW)
• 4-way manual driver’s seat adjustment
• Cloth upholstery
• 3 x top-tether and 2 x ISOFIX anchor points for child seats
• Air conditioning
• 4 x speakers and 2 x front tweeters
• Cruise control
• Power windows
• Day and night rear-view mirror
• 1 x front USB-A outlet
• 1 x front USB-C outlet
• 1 x front 12V outlet

The GT-Line adds:

• 16-inch alloy wheels
• LED headlights (NEW)
• LED daytime running lights
• LED tail lights (NEW)
• GT-Line exterior package
• Power-folding, heated exterior mirrors (NEW)
• Leatherette upholstery
• 6-way manual driver’s seat adjustment (includes height adjustment)
• Three-spoke ‘Sports’ steering wheel (NEW)
• Metal pedals (NEW)
• 1 x rear USB-C outlet (NEW)

Colours

Clear White is standard, with the following finishes costing an extra $520:

• Sparkling Silver
• Astro Grey
• Aurora Black Pearl
• Signal Red
• Sporty Blue
• Adventurous Green

All models have a black interior.

MORE: Everything Kia Picanto