Picanto and Sportage headline busy 2016 for Kia

The new year will bring two important new arrivals for Kia customers.

The starting-price Picanto will finally fill the $14,990 price point, after a three-year on-and-off battle to land it for Australia, while an all-new Sportage arrives for families.

Before then, in the final quarter, Kia will also bring an all-new Optima. "Yes, it's a busy time. Hectic," admits Kia spokesman, Kevin Hepworth.

"We've got a lot going on and they are important cars. For our customers and Kia's volume aspirations in Australia.

"The plan is to have the Sportage very early next year. Picanto will be in the first quarter. And, also early next year, we're going to have a major mid-life change on Cerato." The Cerato update is only a facelift but the Sportage and Optima are completely new, with the new mid-size SUV about to be revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

It shares the same mechanical package as the recently-introduced Hyundai Tucson, one of the better compact SUVs in a class led by the Mazda CX-5, but is much more adventurous in its body design. Kia is also promising more safety equipment and a major change inside for the fourth-generation Sportage.

"It's all new. It's a generation change for Sportage," says Hepworth.

"The interior is where people will see the big change. It is Kia's most refined, highest-quality cabin to date.

"The Sportage was a breakthrough vehicle for us in 2010 when we launched it. It was a part of a revolution in exterior design."

Picanto is expected to be  $14,990 driveaway with automatictransmission

There are none of those promises for the Picanto, which is all about the price.

"We're expecting it will be $14,990 driveaway, with an automatic," says Hepworth.

"We've been talking about it for more than three years. It will open up an new entry-level market for Kia buyers. We're looking at a few thousand a year to start, and we'll see from there."

Unlike some of its rivals in the tiddler class the Picanto is built in Korea, not a low-cost factory in India, and has already been selling well in Europe. It's an upright five-door hatch with a 1.2-litre engine, but only four gears in its automatic gearbox.

Hepworth says the arrivals are a sign of an aggressive new approach from the latest management team at Kia Motors Australia.

"We've got a busy time from November until May next year. But that's good," he says.