2011 Kia Picanto revealed

The 2011 Kia Picanto teased in a sketch ahead of Geneva 2011

Kia are on a bit of a roll at the moment (as are sister company Hyundai) with cars like the new 2011 Kia Optima and the new Kia Sportage taking Kia’s offerings to a much higher level in terms of design and style. And perception of quality.

That upwards march looks set to continue with Kia’s version of the Hyundai i10 – the 2011 Kia Picanto – which is due to launch at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2011. But this is a new car coming, and as we have seen in the last year or two you can no longer have a new car launch without a run-up tease.

Which explains why Kia has released a sketch of the 2011 Picanta three months ahead of launch at Geneva to tease the coming of a new model and aim to grab the interest of potential buyers.

As you would expect from a teaser sketch, the Kia Picanta portrayed is a bit more butch than the production version is likely to be – we can see big alloys with ultra-low profile tyres, for example – but Kia design has got much better of late and this sketch – including the new family face – is likely to be close to the production model.

But the car we’ll get at Geneva in March will not be a Picanta Concept but a production-ready car. And it’ll need to be – Kia intends the 2011 Kia Picanta to be in UK showrooms by Easter.

It looks promising.

By Cars UK