Kia Picanto

The Kia Picanto will, we suspect, turn out to be the slowest car Autocar tests during 2024, notwithstanding the subject of Matt Prior’s Christmas road test. Then again, based on previous candidates, that machine could well possess not a chassis but a hull.

But forget about performance, because this 3.6m-long supermini is still one of the more unusual and interesting cars new money can buy – more unusual as a type of car than even plug-in hybrid supercars, which now outnumber truly small, and very affordable, hatchbacks.

It will be news to nobody that city cars are an endangered species. Low margins, the cost of advanced safety features and a shift in market demands have all played a part in the thinning out of their ranks, yet diminutive, highly affordable, economical cars still have a role to play – and rather a noble one, if you ask us.

That’s what this £15k Kia offers: easily accessible, trusty motoring. And perhaps a little fun? Let’s find out.

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