2018 Kia Picanto vs 2019

What's the difference?

Sales of micro cars are as small as the cars themselves. Really, there are just four choices for Australian buyers, but that includes the dwindling stock of the discontinued Suzuki Celerio.

Gone are the halcyon days of the Hyundai i20 and Nissan Micra, Australians rejected the rather good (but manual-only) Volkswagen Up and thus today the clear leader in the segment is the Kia Picanto.

The new Picanto is far and away the best-selling car in the segment, pitted against Mitsubishi's underwhelming Mirage and Holden's ageing Spark, both of which show monthly sales that have dropped to double digits. The Picanto commands almost half of micro-car sales, with Kia shifting 250 a month. What makes it so compelling? Price? Looks? Quality? Being fun to drive? Safety gear? Or could it be all of those things?

Just when you thought Kia’s tiniest car couldn’t be given more attitude, a GT version of the Picanto comes along. Yup, the Picanto already looked like some kind of angry baby panda, and the GT not only adds more aggressive styling but Kia’s Australian engineers say they have turned it into a more capable beastie on the road, too.

We headed to the launch of the new Kia Picanto GT to see how it performed, not just in terms of its handling, but also how practical and economical it is while considering its value for money.