Mini Cooper vs Kia Picanto

What's the difference?

Can it be possible that, between 1959 and 2023, there have only been four distinct generations of Mini? 

Besides the 1959 British Motor Corporation (BMC) original, it’s just been a trio of hatchback versions under BMW stewardship – the R50 of 2001, 2006’s R56 and the 2014 F56.

Now, in 2024, that number has suddenly jumped to six. 

The F56 has morphed into the lightly restyled and solely petrol-powered F66 Cooper range in F66 three-door (3DR) and coming F65 five-door (5DR) hatchback guises like before.

Meanwhile, the completely new and electric-only J01 Cooper 3DR joins the fold, along with its J05 Aceman 5DR crossover spin-off.

Despite their shared name and similar styling inside and out, the British-built Cooper and electric Cooper from China are two different cars. You can read all about the latter in another review, as this is about the petrol-powered Cooper range.

More of a thorough makeover and less of a total redesign, has it changed enough? Let’s find out. 

If you're feeling the cost of living sting, there's a good chance you've scaled back your ambitions for your next new car. You may have even looked at some of Australia's most affordable brand-new vehicles and the Kia Picanto is one of them.

It's one of the few brand-new options left with a before-on-roads starting price of under $20,000 and it's one of the few non-performance models left which can still be chosen as a manual.

It's one thing to be affordable, though, and quite another to be good value - so does the freshly updated 2024 Picanto have what it takes to stack up against more expensive options? Let's take a look.