Kia Picanto 2023: facelift coming this year, redesign leaked

Kia Australia has already confirmed the small hatchback will gain a facelift in 2023, but now we have glimpse of the new Picanto

Images of what could be the 2023 facelifted Kia Picanto have appeared online, offering critical insight into what this affordable hatchback could soon look like.

The photos of the prototype were shared by Autospy, with the hatchback seen wrapped in heavy camouflage but some key changes can still be spotted.

Stand-out changes for the Picanto include a new design for the alloy wheels and EV9-like vertical LED headlights, that may also feature on the updated Carnival people mover.

The rest of the vehicle is largely covered by camoflague, however we can see a different exhaust pipe at the rear which could mean the end for the Picanto’s fake exhaust tips.

New wheels can be seen on the prototype

It comes after Kia Australia’s general manager of product planning, Roland Rivero, told Chasing Cars back in December 2022 that the local arm had long term plans for the affordable hatch.

“Picanto will be with us for a long time yet. We hope that from a positive Picanto experience, customers then move on, depending on their life stage, to an SUV or a Cerato.”

“We see Picanto as a very important product,” Mr Rivero added.

Kia Picanto GT 2022 LT front — The Picanto is one of the most affordable cars on sale in Australia

Mr Rivero also confirmed that a second facelift for the Picanto would arrive in 2023.

The current JA generation of Picanto has been in production since 2017 and is currently headed by the flagship manual GT variant which Chasing Cars staff journalist Zak Adkins drove for a long-term period of three months.

What else could be coming for Picanto in 2023?

Kia Australia has remained tight-lipped about future specifications for the Picanto in 2023.

It’s likely that the facelift will largely be cosmetic rather than tweaks to powertrain or dynamics. It’s expected that the GT variant will continue, along with the option of a five-speed manual transmission.

Currently, the Kia Picanto is available with either a 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol four-cylinder engine or a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine.

The 1.2-litre unit produces outputs of 62kW/122Nm, while the turbocharged three-cylinder engine makes 74kW/172Nm. The GT variant is only available with a manual transmission.