Kia Picanto facelift spied in Malaysia ahead of launch

A year later, the new Picanto has started reaching the company's Malaysian dealerships ahead of an imminent launch, spyphotos from the Kia Picanto Owners Club Malaysia Facebook page have revealed.

Compared to the outgoing Malaysian-spec Picanto, the facelifted Malaysian-spec Picanto features tweaked tiger-nose grille, new bumpers, tweaked foglamp housing and repositioned reversing light. On the sides, there are new dual-tone 14-inch wheels.

Inside, changes are rather subtle. New meter graphics in silver trim on the instrument cluster, rearranged steering-mounted audio controls, relocation of the trip computer and reset buttons round-up the changes.

The facelift will bring no mechanical changes to the Kia Picanto. The second-gen model will continue being powered by the 1.25-litre Kappa II Dual CVVT four-cylinder engine that produces 87 PS and 120 Nm of torque. However, from the current 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic transmission options, the latter is said to be dropped.