INTRODUCTION
Kia sales to keep booming with all-new Picanto small car
The new Kia Picanto is the latest addition to the Kia model range, presenting customers with a winning combination of exciting innovative design, lively competitive performance, class-leading interior dimensions, great fuel economy, and ultra-low emissions. Attractively styled, with a zest-for-life character, this is a car that´s small on the outside, but feels big on the inside. Picanto is capable of seating four full size adults, or a family of five in comfort. It is exceptionally versatile with a wide range of seating options and a spacious interior that merit the description ´mini-MPV´.
The 3.5-metre Picanto is a key model in Kia´s European strategy, taking the brand for the first time into the A-segment with an all-new and highly competitive challenger. This ´young, sporty and friendly´ newcomer gives Kia an entry-level model to attract new types of customer and begin the crucial brand-building task of creating loyalty to the marque and to its expanding dealer network.
Picanto and the Kia Opirus 3.5 V6 luxury sedan flagship, launched last autumn, define the broad extremities of the company´s rapidly expanding model range. The Kia range currently covers around 35% of European segmentation. By 2005 this will increase to around 85% as new vehicles are developed and introduced. In many European countries where the A-segment accounts for significant volumes, the Picanto gives Kia enormous potential for sales growth.
The Picanto is a high volume product designed to achieve strong market penetration particularly in Europe, where it will contribute significantly to Kia´s goal of raising brand awareness and tripling sales in the region to 300,000 by 2005. Designed to fit squarely in the A-segment, the Picanto continues the process of matching Kia´s vehicles closely to European market trends.
A zesty small car with head-turning good looks and a deceptive amount of interior room, the Picanto sets the stage for a number of exciting new designs in the pipeline from Korea´s oldest car manufacturer. Kia´s new C-Segment Cerato goes on sale in Spring 2004 in both five-door and four-door forms and two new B-Segment models will arrive early 2005, giving Kia a fresh comprehensive line up with highly competitive models in every sector of the European market.
As an entry-level car, the Picanto will be a very compelling buy for young, style-conscious consumers. A modern, highly individual choice, the Picanto is equally at home on the daily run to work, or the weekend run to the sports field or beach. The Picanto´s fuel economy, and particularly its class-leading CO2 figures - as low as 118 g/km - reflect Kia´s push towards leaner, greener vehicles. A diesel version of the vehicle will be released in 2005, increasing the appeal of the vehicle even further.
At launch the Picanto will be available in both four-seater and or five-seater versions, with a choice of two gasoline engines, manual or automatic transmission, and LX or EX equipment and trim levels. With all seats occupied, Picanto has 157 litres of luggage space. With two occupants and the split rear seats folded flat, there is a cavernous 882 litres of cargo space. The Picanto is a triumph of packaging design and in terms of interior space, it is the ´best-in-class´ in most major dimensions.
Across Europe, Kia´s marketing for the new model will focus on the ´what color do you have?´ theme, featuring a bright orange Picanto and highlighting the bold choice of exterior and interior colours which will be available. Customers have a choice of nine paint finishes including clear white, galaxy black, lemon yellow, orange, scarlet red, liquid silver, samba green, blue diamond and cobalt blue.
The styling of Picanto also reflects future trends in the A-segment market, where the percentage of five-door cars is expected to increase over the next few years. In 2002, five-door models accounted for just 22% of the A-segment market, worldwide, and this market share is expected to grow to more than 50% by 2006 as the practicality and versatility of the five-door configuration becomes more and more popular.
Although the Picanto will be manufactured exclusively in Korea primarily for the European market, the vehicle was created by Kia´s in-house design team, headed by Kang Lee. The team incorporated substantial input from Kia´s European R&D centre in Germany, which is also the brand´s centre-of-excellence for diesel engine technology.
The initial production rate for Picanto is planned to be 150,000 units per year, with 88,000 scheduled for export markets, of which 77,000 - or 50% of total production - for Europe. First customer deliveries are set for April and by year-end Kia anticipate that a total of 43,000 Picantos will have been delivered to customers.
The Picanto is manufactured at a new factory in Suhsan, a few kilometres from Kia´s Hwasung plant.
2005 Kia Picanto #1