2012 Kia Picanto 3-door

The 2012 Kia Picanto 3-door has a unique, sporty character while still managing to deliver the same, seemingly contradictory, upgrades as the more family-focused five-door: stronger performance with lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, the safety and luxury features of a large car without an outrageous price tag, and practicality within a compact package.

The dimensions of the three- and five-door Picanto are identical in order to ensure they enjoy the same levels of interior space and crash safety. However, that simple statement does not do justice to the wealth of detailed work undertaken by Chief Design Officer Peter Schreyer and his creative teams to ensure the 3-door has its own, unique character.

The Kia Picanto 3-door is a practical small car with five seats and a big boot within an overall length of less than 3.6 metres, just like the five-door. And while its primary role might not be as a family runabout, Kia has done everything to make access to the back easy for those occasions when owners might want to give a lift to friends or relatives. Sliding and tilting front seats provide a wide 'walk-in' to the split rear bench.

The Kia Picanto 3-door offers brand-new 1.0- and 1.25-litre Kappa-family petrol engines, which deliver fuel economy of up to 67.3mpg with CO2 emissions as low as 99g/km. The larger engine is available with Kia's EcoDynamics fuel-saving technology - an Intelligent Stop & Go engine stop/start system - or, alternatively, with automatic transmission.

Kia Picanto have electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) to apportion stopping effort to the wheels with most traction, and emergency brake assist system (BAS), ensuring maximum stopping power regardless of the pressure applied to the pedal by the driver.