• Surprising amount of passenger space
• One of the biggest city car boots
• Flexible interior storage

How much space is there?

The Kia Picanto has one of the most spacious cabins in the city car class. You can just about fit four adults in there, which is no mean feat. Granted, shoulder space for those in the rear is at a premium, but space up front is perfectly acceptable.

It’s also worth mentioning that, while the Picanto is available with three-abreast seating in the rear, we wouldn’t recommend trying to take advantage of it unless you’re transporting a trio of beanpole-like teenagers. It’s awfully neat.

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However, because all Picantos have five doors – unlike some versions of the old Volkswagen Up which made do with just three – it’s far easier to load passengers into as they don’t need to articulate themselves between the B-pillar and front seat back.

Boot space and storage

The Picanto has 255 litres of boot space, which is an impressive amount for such a small car. To put that packaging into perspective, that’s three litres more than you get from the Hyundai i10, 24 litres more than the Toyota Aygo X and a whopping 45 litres more than the attractively affordable Leapmotor T03 EV.

In fact, the only new car at this price point that can beat the Picanto for storage space is the Dacia Sandero with its 328-litre boot. But that’s hardly a fair comparison because, although the Sandero is cheap, it sits in the class above. It’s a supermini, not a city car. So, if you need the most amount of space in the smallest footprint, the Picanto is still your best bet.

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The Picanto’s cabin storage is pretty good, too. The door bins are big enough to eat everything in your pockets, the cupholders can be retracted to create a large storage tray and you get a handy shelf ahead of the gear lever that’s just the right size for a modern flagship smartphone. However, if the next generation of phones get any bigger, you’ll need to take a chisel to the cubby to make them fit.

Is it easy to park?

Obviously. It’s tiny.

Sarcasm aside, we’d like to give a special mention to the Picanto’s excellent visibility. All its windows are vast, and its pillars aren’t particularly wide. That means you’re not going to lose sight of cyclists at tight junctions, as you would in the much larger Ford Puma.

Safety

• It’s quite old, so Euro NCAP rating has expired
• But it scored four stars with Kia’s safety pack
• Facelifted car has a lot more safety technology

The Kia Picanto was last tested by Euro NCAP in 2017 – and it scored three stars in standard trim and four stars when equipped with Kia’s then optional autonomous emergency braking system. However, all UK Picantos now come as standard with AEB, so the four-star rating is the only one you need to worry about.

That rating doesn’t sound too bad for a city car, but it’s worth noting the Picanto’s score is so old, it’s now expired. That doesn’t mean the car is now inherently unsafe, it just means Euro NCAP’s testing protocols have moved on so much that it’s not useful to compare the Picanto’s results to those of a freshly crash-tested car.

For example, the Toyota Aygo X scored four stars in Euro NCAP’s stricter 2022 tests, which suggests it’s a safer car. But, because of its facelift, the Picanto now has more safety tech than the car tested by Euro NCAP. Now, you get lane-keeping assist, traffic sign recognition and a reversing camera as standard. Get the top-spec car and you can have blind-spot collision avoidance assist, too.

Watch the Kia Picanto’s Euro NCAP crash test