AFTER
three weeks of luxury motors, it was back to the
‘bread and butter’ diet this
week – no automatic gearbox, no fancy leather seats or folding side mirrors or
massive boots.
But
there was a seven-year guarantee which means we must be talking about a Kia.
Yes the revamped Picanto doesn’t have anything too fancy, but what you do get
is a decent four-door motor which is available at a very reasonable price of
?¬11,495.
No more scrappage deals, but sales are slow right now and you should be able to
strike a good deal if you have a trade in or maybe even do better if you have
cash to spend.
The
Picanto has been with us since 2004 and it’s built on a smaller platform of its
cousin the Hyundai Getz. Often cars carry different names in different parts of
the world and the Picanto is known as the Kia Morning in South Korea and Chile
and New Morning in Vietnam. I drove a pale blue version and it certainly would
brighten up your morning. The new model is more evolution than revolution, but
is certainly more attractive than the previous version.
Six years ago Kia had only one per cent of the
market share in Ireland. But thanks to improved cars and their famous
seven-year warranty the Korean company now has three percent of the market and
11 percent of the Irish small car market. James Brooks, MD of Kia Ireland admits
that the seven-year warranty is a great selling point and says that the Picanto
is a very important car for the company.
‘
‘The
warranty has been a great success and puts us on the on the must see list,”
said James at the Irish launch.
This is a neat, lively motor and I suppose it
would be ideal for a first-time buyer or it could also be used as a second
family car for doing those famous school runs or trips to sports events on
Saturday or Sunday mornings. The front end has got a complete revamp and it now
has a two-tier look, headlamps at the top of what is a bulky-looking grille and
parking lights at the bottom.
The
rear end also has a smarter, smoother look to it. Inside there is room for five
adults at a squeeze and the seats carry a series of grey lines which lift the
décor. The lines reminded me of a map of the London Underground rail network.
Naturally the boot is tiny and no room for even a
‘mini’ spare wheel, just a
repair kit.
When they first came to Ireland Kia irritated
us by having the indicators on the opposite side of the steering wheel to what
we were used to. Also the radio controls were very fiddly. Both of those
problems have now been rectified and the only problem I had was that there was
a fair bit of road noise, but nothing that the radio couldn’t drown out.
Only
available in Ireland in 1.0 litre petrol, prices start at
?¬11,495 for the basic
LX model, while the fancier EX model with extras, will cost you a thousand
extra. C02 emissions are very low at 99g which works out at
?¬Ã¡104.